[Jeffrey Frankel] Why do Americans vote for extremists?

American voters seem poised to hand the Republican Party control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate as well, in November’s midterm elections. The same goes for many state races, where polls show Republicans gaining ground. Such an outcome could have profound consequences for American democracy, especially if it results in even greater degradation of the US electoral system. Given the large number of 2020 election deniers running for offices in 2022 and the enormous

Oct. 31, 2022

[Lynn Schmidt] Putting country before party

What if the way to break through our polarized politics was to reward those willing to cross the partisan divide for the greater good? America is mired in a dysfunctional stew of hyper-partisanship. Too many view members of the opposing political party as enemies and not fellow Americans. Not to mention this environment can make it difficult to govern. A multitude of books have been written about how we ended up this way. Some of those books have even offered suggestions on how we can move bey

Oct. 28, 2022

[Mariana Mazzucato] New missions for Latin America

The war in Ukraine and the global cost-of-living crisis are hitting Latin America and the Caribbean hard. Growth in the region, which rebounded impressively from COVID-19 to reach an average rate of 6.8 percent in 2021, will fall to just 1.8 percent this year, with crippling effects on the most vulnerable people. Compared to 2021, Latin America’s poverty rate will increase by 0.9 percentage points to 33 percent, and extreme poverty will rise by 0.7 percentage points to 14.5 percent in 20

Oct. 27, 2022

[Lee Kyong-hee] Peace in East Asia 113 years ago and now

“On the morning of the 26th, the temperature in Harbin dropped below zero and it snowed lightly. Ahn Jung-geun changed into new clothes and headed to Harbin Station. He took a seat in a tearoom on the second floor of the third-class lounge and ordered tea. Russian military police officers stood guard outside, while foot patrol officers made their rounds with resounding footsteps.” This is Kim Hoon’s description of Ahn arriving at the scene of his self-appointed mission on Oct.

Oct. 27, 2022

[Gearoid Reidy] The West has failed — North Korea is a nuclear state

The world might not want to hear it, but Kim Jong-un might be right. “There will never be such a thing as our abandonment of the nuclear weapons or denuclearization,” Kim declared last month. “The position of our state as a nuclear nation has become irreversible.” Decades of pursuing the “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula has failed. After North Korea last month declared itself a nuclear weapons state, it’s time for the US and its allies to accep

Oct. 26, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] Good intentions, bad outcomes

Due to cultural differences or a lack of foreign language proficiency, we are prone to misunderstanding others or making mistakes despite our good intentions. Such a tendency may result in awkward situations, and yet we should try to understand each other. Recently, for example, many Koreans were upset about the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which grants benefits to electric cars assembled in the US only. The Korean people thought that it would be unfair to Hyundai Mot

Oct. 26, 2022

[Martin Schram] A little inflation help from the other side

President Joe Biden and his designated message-deliverers just got some crucial, last-minute insights -- from a most unlikely source -- Wednesday night. It made clear how they should be talking about the only issue that almost half of Americans say they really care about in this all-over-the-lot midterm campaign. Yep, we are talking today about the issue you assumed Democratic strategist James Carville made unforgettable with his famous 1992 campaign warning: “It’s the economy, stu

Oct. 25, 2022

[Kim Sang-kyun] Reasons to stay away from illegal drugs

Last July, in the middle of Gangnam, a posh district in Seoul well known for the global hit K-pop song “Gangnam Style,” a man in his 20s, who took methamphetamine at a drinking party, died in a car accident on his way home. Police found 64 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle. Recently, a smuggler carrying illegal drugs to South Korea in his stomach died after packets of drugs burst inside him. This was the first time a so-called “body-packer” had been found in South

Oct. 25, 2022

[Andreas Kluth] Putin is making nuclear warfare new normal

Put aside, if you can, the growing anxiety about Russian President Vladimir Putin going nuclear in his barbaric war against Ukraine. Even if he doesn’t -- and the risk, though real, remains small -- he’s already brought the whole world closer to atomic disaster occurring at some point. That’s because Putin, with his repeated threats to drop nukes on Ukraine or other European countries, has in effect kicked off a new and global arms race in these diabolical weapons. He has pro

Oct. 24, 2022

[Gi-wook Shin, Seong-hyon Lee] What should the world expect from Xi?

The 104-minute speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the country’s 20th party congress reveals a leader who believes he is on a historic mission to save China’s self-described socialism in the 21st century. Xi’s Oct. 16 speech launched the twice-a-decade meeting, where the national Communist Party appoints its leadership and announces China’s policy direction for the coming years. The address reads very much like a sequel to his previous one five years ago. At that

Oct. 24, 2022

[Robert J. Fouser] The new park in Songhyeon-dong

After years of sitting behind a wall, the large empty space in Songhyeon-dong opened to the public on Oct. 7 this year. During the Japanese colonial period, the space was used for housing for employees of the Joseon Shiksan Bank. From liberation in 1945 to 1997, it was a housing compound for US diplomats. After the diplomats moved out, Samsung Life Insurance bought the land and then sold it to Korean Air, who planned to develop it into a luxury hotel. As opposition to those plans grew, the City

Oct. 21, 2022

[Djoomart Otorbaev] Russian elite flood Central Asia

Bishkek’s residents have been confronted with an unusual sight these past few weeks. The streets of Kyrgyzstan’s capital are teeming with tens of thousands of educated men with European features -- Russian citizens fleeing President Vladimir Putin’s “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists to fight his war against Ukraine. The Kyrgyz people and government have welcomed them with open arms. Many other Eurasian cities such as Tbilisi (Georgia), Baku (Azerbaijan),

Oct. 20, 2022

[Kim Myong-sik] Leftist opposition needs to revise security framework

If, just if, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration of South Korea decides to go nuclear to counter the nuclear threat from North Korea, it will have to deal first with the leftist opposition inside the country before trying to win support from its allies. Actually, voices are growing in the intellectual community of South Korea, calling for the development of the nation’s own nuclear arms capability as Pyongyang rachets up its saber-rattling these past weeks with the test-firing of missiles of

Oct. 20, 2022

[Martin Schram] Will Putin’s exit be an off-ramp or trapdoor?

Once again, the talking- and typing-heads are filling our news screens with double-doming about building an “off-ramp” Vladimir Putin will be willing to take to get out of the Ukraine war. But Putin still doesn’t seem to be looking for an off-ramp. He’s frantically watching out for a trapdoor. It may well be his most likely exit from the Ukraine war he now knows he can’t win. A now panicky Putin fears he might stumble or strut onto an unseen trapdoor that could in

Oct. 19, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] K-pop: The power of cultural diplomacy

Travelling around the world these days, we can easily see Korean pop culture's diplomatic power. K-pop and K-film have not only let the world know about South Korea, but also significantly upgraded its international image. Recently, I found out that the most highly rated Netflix movies included two Korean films, “Handmaiden” and “Mother.” Then, I came across an intriguing article in The Guardian, entitled, “Squid Game, Blackpink, kimchi pancakes ... How did S

Oct. 19, 2022

[Dan Reiter] Lessons of history about how to end Ukraine war

Every war must eventually end. But how will the last chapter of the Russia-Ukraine war read? With a bang, a white flag or a begrudging agreement? Moscow planned for rapid victory, imagining the indomitable Russian army sweeping aside collapsing Ukrainian resistance. But Ukrainian bravery, weapons from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russian military incompetence prevented a swift win. Ukraine, in fact, is now taking back land that Russia had seized. History shows us how other flailing

Oct. 18, 2022

[James Stavridis] Putin's futile bet on air power

In the rapidly shifting Ukraine war, the growing failure of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ground game is causing him to seek asymmetrical responses. Most visibly, he is turning to what is essentially a terror-bombing campaign against the civilian population of Ukraine. Much like the V2 blitzes Nazi Germany directed against British cities in World War II, these missile attacks will accomplish very little tactically. Instead, they will heighten the already enormous anger and resolve of

Oct. 18, 2022

[Shang-Jin Wei] Is China's zero-COVID policy worth the cost?

Before COVID-19 vaccines were developed and distributed, China’s strict approach to controlling the virus resulted in fewer deaths and a much lower death rate per million people than in many other countries. But while these successes were impressive in late 2020 and early 2021, effective vaccines and treatments have become readily available since then, leading the World Health Organization to declare that the end of the pandemic is in sight. Yet China has maintained its strict zero-COVID

Oct. 17, 2022

[Thitinan Pongsudhirak] The end of ASEAN as we know it

As Cambodia, Indonesia, and Thailand gear up to host major world summits in November, the 55-year-old Association of Southeast Asian Nations is facing an existential crisis, owing to severe internal splits over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Myanmar’s military coup, and other issues. The 2007 ASEAN Charter’s vision of deeper political, economic, security, and socio-cultural integration is no more. Salvaging what’s left will require accepting this reality and regrouping a

Oct. 14, 2022