[Kevin Rudd] Our responsibility to COVID-afflicted South Asia

Almost one-quarter of humanity lives on the Indian subcontinent. That fact is easily forgotten elsewhere, as world leaders focus on combating outbreaks of COVID-19 and its new variants within their own countries. But when our descendants pass judgment on this moment in history, they won’t remember just the lockdowns, face masks, and vaccination programs. They will also remember India and its neighbors. They will remember how human remains have been found bloated and decomposing on the ban

May 25, 2021

[Elizabeth Shackelford] World view of America matters

One of Joe Biden’s first messages to the world after the 2020 election was that America would lead “not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” Yes, the American example is a powerful tool of influence. But how is that example viewed across the globe? The Eurasia Group Foundation set out to answer that question in its third annual international survey. It surveyed more than 5,000 people in 10 countries, including allies such as Japan and Germany and adve

May 25, 2021

[Shang-Jin Wei] Sex and the Chinese economy

China’s recently released population census confirms the persistence of the country’s alarming excess of males relative to the global norm. This numerical imbalance from birth onward has several significant economic implications – and not only for China. Because women live longer than men on average, most countries’ populations have more females than males. In the United States, for example, there were 96 males per 100 females in 2020. China, by contrast, has 105 males f

May 24, 2021

[Max Nisen] Get ready for the next wave of COVID vaccines

There are more than 10 effective COVID-19 vaccines in use around the world, so it‘s easy to forget those still in development. That’s a mistake. These candidates may be taking longer to arrive, but they‘re essential to the pandemic fight. Most of the world is still unvaccinated, keeping the virus threat alive, and wherever it is able to spread unchecked there’s a risk of variants cropping up that can evade the protection offered by the current crop of shots. Governments n

May 24, 2021

[Digital Simplicity] A nation of portal journalism, ruled by the indomitable duopoly

South Korea is a nation of portal journalism -- for better or worse. The two biggest portals, Naver and Kakao, form an insurmountable duopoly, holding a firm grip on almost every digital sector, ranging from search to online shopping to digital news. Both are running massive news platforms, drawing most eyeballs away from individual media sites. Believe it or not, Naver and Kakao claim that they are not media outlets. However, it remains a fact that their influence as something close to media

May 22, 2021

[Robert J. Fouser] Openness depends on vaccination

Over the last 10 days, COVID-19 cases have exploded in Taiwan, which has stood out as the world leader in controlling the disease. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, cases in the United States, which ranks number one in total cases and deaths, have seen a sharp drop in cases. Social distancing restrictions and mask mandates are being eased as Taiwan locks down. The sudden change in the two countries is because of one thing: Vaccination rates. After a slow start in the US, 47.6 perce

May 21, 2021

[Elizabeth Drew] The big lie and its consequences

This period in US history could go down as the moment when America’s democratic system for electing a president -- the most consequential duty of US citizens -- was broken, perhaps for good. True, the US constitution’s promise and central premise -- that the people elect the president -- has never been totally fulfilled. America’s aristocratic Founding Fathers didn’t trust the rabble (or slaves or women) to choose the person to fill the nation’s most powerful offi

May 20, 2021

[Kim Myong-sik] Farewell to souls sacrificed in two sunken ships

President Moon Jae-in, who just entered the fifth and final year in his tenure, has made one thing certain about his character. That is his candidness, the nature of being unable to hide own thoughts. When he boasted of Korea’s “success” in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, expressed satisfaction with “stabilizing apartment prices” and pronounced optimism in reviving the economy, he seemed to believe it. When he complained of the opposition lawmakers’ rigorous

May 20, 2021

[Peter Singer] Keeping discussion free

Last month, the Journal of Controversial Ideas -- of which I am a co-editor -- published its first issue. The journal is a response to the shrinking boundary, even in liberal democracies, of acceptable discourse. It is specifically designed to provide a forum in which authors can, if they wish, use a pseudonym to avoid running the risk of receiving personal abuse, including death threats, or of irrevocably harming their careers. There was a time when the threat to academic freedom in democrati

May 19, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] A society of hive psychology and swarm intelligence

When I joined the faculty of Seoul National University in the early 1980s, clashes between teargassing riot police and teargassed radical students were rampant on campus. To strengthen solidarity against the dictatorial regime, student leaders began to organize the so-called Daedongje, which means, “Togetherness Festivals” or “Accompaniment Ceremonies.” At Daedongje, there was no place for individual identity: Only the group mentality prevailed. At that time, I warned of

May 19, 2021

[Charles A. Kupchan] Biden’s foreign policy needs a course correction

As US President Joe Biden contemplates course corrections after his first months in office, one change seems especially worthy of consideration: A shift to a more pragmatic, less ideological foreign policy. So far, Biden has centered his statecraft on the clash between democracy and autocracy. In his address to Congress late last month, he identified the country’s adversaries as “the autocrats of the world,” vowing that they “will not win the future. We will. America wi

May 18, 2021

[Ana Palacio] EU is still flying blind

The much-anticipated Conference on the Future of Europe has begun. Announced by the European Commission and the European Parliament at the end of 2019, the conference is billed as “a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that will enable people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future.” It is unlikely to deliver. I would like nothing more than for the conference to produce a shared vision of Europe’s future, strengthening the European U

May 18, 2021

[Eric Posner] Long live the imperial presidency?

One of the striking contrasts between the Trump and Biden administrations is the debate about whether the presidency has achieved more power than is consistent with the public good. Donald Trump’s term in office was accompanied by a drumbeat of commentaries arguing that the presidency had become too powerful, enabling a madman or despot to destroy Americans’ liberties. The critics urged Congress and the courts to reassert themselves before the country slid into authoritarianism. Sin

May 17, 2021

[Daniel Moss] If China shrinks, it’s the world’s problem

China’s slowest population growth in decades may be felt more acutely beyond its borders than within them. The economy will keep humming and incomes can continue to climb, albeit at a slower rate. The rest of us, however, will need to adjust to a persistently slacker pace of global expansion and the prospective ebbing of deflationary pressure. The caricature of China as an unlimited supplier of cheap labor holding down the cost of everything from dishwashers to dolls should be consigned

May 14, 2021

[Mariana Mazzucato, Rainer Kattel] Waking the Norwegian green giant

Responding to the climate emergency is a challenge for everyone, but particularly for countries that are economically reliant on petroleum extraction or production. Decarbonization has created an opportunity for many countries to pursue a green industrial revolution. But as more countries embrace this route to future prosperity, the value of fossil fuel assets, technologies and capabilities will diminish, threatening jobs, export revenues and industrial innovation in petroleum-dominated economie

May 13, 2021

[Lee Kyong-hee] Why Youn Yuh-jung is so heartily celebrated

“Yes, she was a little different from the rest of us. I think she was kind of magnanimous for a kid at our age, and was quite cheerful, positive and smart. I can see she hasn’t changed since.” That’s how my friend recalls Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Academy Award for best supporting actress. My friend, a retiree in the US state of Maryland, was one of Youn’s classmates toward the end of the 1950s. The scars of the Korean War at the onset of the decade were still de

May 13, 2021

[Tyler Cowen] Four stories to watch for (the rest of) 2021

The standard “Stories to Watch in the Year Ahead” feature typically arrives in early January, or even late December, but this year has been special. It was obvious that the first few months of 2021 would be dominated by COVID, the aftermath of the US presidential election and President Joe Biden’s first 100 days. With those issues now largely in the rearview mirror, if not completely gone, early May seems like a good time for my own version of which stories will matter most in

May 12, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] Go back to your country!

Recently, a few racially biased Americans reportedly yelled at people of Asian origin, “Go back to your country!” and “You don’t belong here,” while violently attacking them. Some of the assailants were homeless and others lived in their cars. Presumably, some of them were angry because they had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, their ignorant and hateful acts cannot be excused. Beyond the physical violence, phrases like “Go back to your coun

May 12, 2021

[Andrew Sheng] Is democracy in decline, retreat or under siege?

Is democracy in decline, retreat or under siege? This is a soul-searching question by many who agonize over a lost golden age of democracy, freedom and rule-based world order. Notice that democracy was rarely granted by the British Empire, which never granted democracy to her colonies (other than white Canada or Australia) until forced to give independence after she became exhausted by two World Wars. Democracy was adopted as part of American tool-box to be pushed so that more people would be l

May 11, 2021

[Shang-Jin Wei] How will the digital renminbi change China?

While many central banks are still investigating the possibility of issuing a digital currency, China has rolled out a digital currency via a series of pilot programs since last year. The eRMB (my term as opposed to the more awkward official DC/EP) by itself will not help the renminbi to challenge the US dollar’s global dominance. Its true significance instead lies in its potential to alter the balance between China’s technology giants and traditional majority state-owned banks, thus

May 10, 2021