[Andreas Kluth] How NATO should deter Vladimir Putin's Russia

Come July, NATO allies will gather in Vilnius for their second summit since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his genocidal war of aggression against Ukraine. There’ll be 31 of them this time, after Finland joined the club in direct response to Putin’s bellicosity. What should they decide? One way or another, every discussion will touch on Putin. The neo-Tsarist, imperialist, irredentist and atavistic threat he represents menaces not only non-NATO countries such as Ukraine or

April 25, 2023

[Ana Palacio] Urgent for US to restore its position in Middle East

Perhaps no image better captures the shifting dynamics in the Middle East than that of Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s security council, and Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban, Saudi Arabia’s minister of state, shaking hands in Beijing, with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, smiling between them. The officials were celebrating a China-mediated deal restoring diplomatic ties between the two rivals. In the process, China solidified its reputation as a global powerbroker and under

April 24, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] Leaked US documents offer insight

The recent leak of classified US intelligence documents shocked the military and diplomatic establishment in Washington. On April 13, the FBI arrested Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who leaked the documents in a Discord chat room. Investigations are continuing into how a low-ranking national guardsman had access to the documents and how accessible such information should be moving forward. The leaked documents showed that the US was spying on many co

April 21, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] Teixeira case and political correctness

The leak of classified documents from the Pentagon is a global concern. As a Korean citizen whose country has been bugged by the United States, it is a very unpleasant incident. However, as a member of a global village, the incident has an interesting element as the motivation behind the leak is so absurd. In the process of talking to buddies in an internet chat room, Airman Jack Teixeira leaked national secrets to show off. In the past, leaks of confidential information were usually a campaign

April 20, 2023

[Lynn Schmidt] Find me an Abraham Lasso

What America needs now is a combination of a modern-day Abraham Lincoln and a real-life Ted Lasso. A leader who will inspire all of us, remind us of the better angels of our nature and who believes in what we can become. Most Americans are unhappy with the direction of the country. In an NBC poll from January, 71 percent of respondents said the country is headed in the wrong direction. It was the eighth time in the last nine NBC News surveys since October 2021 when the wrong-track response has b

April 20, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Hidden meanings behind nursery rhymes

Children grow up hearing and singing nursery rhymes. Experts say that many nursery rhymes have a secret meaning, such as a parody of our everyday lives or a satire of historical events. Children may sing nursery rhymes merrily, but some would give them a chill if they knew the origin of the song. We can find a host of internet websites about secret meanings behind English nursery rhymes. For example, “Ring Around the Rosie” is a cheerful song that children sing in a circle before the

April 19, 2023

[Gernot Wagner] Will banking busts hurt clean tech?

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month seemed to bode ill for the global clean-energy race. Just as recently enacted US investment packages and the rest of President Joe Biden’s climate dreams were about to take off, the high-tech start-up sector’s bank of choice went bust, and commentators are warning of a looming slowdown in “the transition to clean energy.” Yet, rather than hampering the clean-energy race, this episode should be a teachable moment. Yes, the ini

April 19, 2023

French Navy frigate Prairial in Korea

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna reiterates French government priorities and solidarity with Korea during a reception aboard Prairial, the French Navy's Floreal-class frigate docked in Incheon on Saturday. The Floreal-class frigate is the French Navy's light surveillance warship, designed after the end of the Cold War in 1989.

April 18, 2023

[Hal Brands] What went wrong in the Afghan pullout?

This month marks two years since President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, bringing America’s two-decade war there to an end. One might hope that Washington would be engaged in a searching debate about what went wrong in that conflict. So far, alas, it’s not clear that hindsight is making America much wiser. See, most recently, the Biden administration’s “after action review” of the US withdrawal. That document is not an objective ass

April 18, 2023

[Frank Shyong] Taiwanese Americans' lingering dread

As a Taiwanese American, I'm filled with anxiety and dread every time I see Taiwan in the headlines. It's not just that the news is never good for the small island nation that China claims as its own territory, where most of my family still lives. It's also because the issue is so politically tortuous that even smart, well-intentioned people have trouble following the conflict's twists and turns, ongoing for more than half a century. Most recently, when Taiwan President Tsai

April 18, 2023

[Nicholas Goldberg] Does AI mean 4-day workweek is almost here?

I‘d like to work four days a week instead of five. Wouldn’t you? I‘d take Fridays off. The way I imagine it, it’d be just a few years from now. A robot in a butler‘s uniform would serve us drinks in the backyard on what used to be just another workday. I’d toss a ball around with the kids while ChatGPT did their homework for them. Who says the world is going to hell and the future is bleak? Artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and job automation hold out

April 17, 2023

[Chang-Tai Hsieh, Jason Hsu] How US should support Taiwan

The stern warnings issued by China ahead of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s tour of the United States and Central America have highlighted the threat that intensifying Chinese pressure poses to the island’s security and stability. But the warnings also underscored the degree to which the ongoing US efforts to “on-shore” semiconductor manufacturing could cripple Taiwan’s economy at a critical time. Taiwan’s security rests on two main pillars: self-governan

April 14, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] It’s time to remember their sacrifices

“At the mine in Hamborn where I worked, we went 1 kilometer down in a vertical shaft. There we got on a battery car and moved a few kilometers along the horizontal gallery, and then walked about another kilometer to reach the working face. The coal bed face, about 250 meters long, was inclined some 15 to 30 degrees. By this time, even before starting to work, we had already begun sweating in the high geothermal heat.” This is how Kim Tae-woo describes his daily routine as a coal mine

April 13, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Courtesy, common sense and humanity among us

The other day, I was playing music for my granddaughter when the old nursery rhyme “Apples and Bananas” came on. It suddenly occurred to me that the lyrics of this song are an excellent metaphor for the generation gap. “Apples and Bananas” is a song designed for children to practice pronouncing vowels. Therefore, the song switches the spellings and pronunciations continuously. It goes like this: “I like to eat, eat, eat/ Apples and bananas/ Oh I like to ate, ate, at

April 11, 2023

[Shang-Jin Wei] A reality check for the renminbi

After years of speculation and false starts, it seems that the internationalization of the renminbi is well underway. On March 29, China and Brazil announced plans to trade using their own currencies, rather than the US dollar. The day before, the China National Offshore Oil Corp. and France’s TotalEnergies completed their first-ever renminbi-denominated liquefied natural gas trade. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that he wants to use the Chinese currency not just for tradin

April 11, 2023

[Gernot Wagner] Europe must tax brown and subsidize green

After years of global climate-policy leadership, the European Union is looking warily at the United States’ sudden embrace of ambitious clean energy subsidies. Ultimately, America’s entry into the clean energy race is good news for both the planet and Europe. But will US generosity toward its own companies under the recent Inflation Reduction Act hollow out Europe’s industrial base even further? Will dirty industries continue moving east and south as clean ones move west across

April 11, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] Prospects for Busan’s World Expo bid

Busan’s bid for the 2030 World Expo made big news this week as a delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) visited South Korea to evaluate the Busan’s ability to hold the event successfully. The country has united behind Busan’s bid and hopes are high that the city will win the event. Amid the enthusiasm for the Busan, two important questions remain. What does it mean for Busan? And what happens if the bid fails? World Expos rank up with the Olympics or the

April 7, 2023

[Mohammed Soliman] New Asian order is emerging

By building up the notion of the Indo-Pacific as a critical region, Abe Shinzo, the late Japanese prime minister, created a strategic framework that presaged the geopolitical and economic integration now taking place across Asia and parts of Africa. As South Asian and Middle Eastern countries merge into West Asia, a new continental order could reshape the global balance of power. During his first visit to India as prime minister, in August 2007, Abe delivered his seminal “Confluence of t

April 6, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] China diplomacy is shining. Where is the US?

Chinese diplomacy is being highlighted in the international theater. As Chinese President Xi Jinping entered the mediation of the Russo-Ukrainian war, there has been increasing attention, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also showing a positive response. President Xi's moves have drawn even more regard since he was recently successful in assisting with a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran. An interstate cease-fire or peace mediation is usually led by a hegemonic state li

April 6, 2023

[Doyle McManus] Ukraine’s offensive against Russia

After a winter of punishing but indecisive battles, Ukraine is preparing a long-promised spring offensive that officials hope will change the course of the war against Russia. The goal is to break Russia's hold on southern and eastern Ukraine and convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that his war has become a losing proposition. US officials say that if Ukraine succeeds, Putin could eventually agree to peace talks on terms acceptable to Ukraine. But if Ukraine fails, the conflict is lik

April 5, 2023