[David Ignatius] Trump could learn from Israel’s experience with ‘bloody-nose’ strikes

If the Trump administration is really thinking about trying to give North Korea a “bloody nose” with a limited military attack, it should look carefully at Israel’s experience -- which shows the possible benefits of a quick strike, but also the difficulty of keeping a lid on a conflict once it starts.　Discussions with Israelis at a conference here reinforced the value of deterrence, but also offered some basic lessons: If you’re going to try a quick hit, don’t talk about it; don’t strike unless

Feb. 4, 2018

[Christopher Walker] The point of sharp power

In recent years, Russia and China have poured considerable resources into arenas typically associated with “soft power,” a term coined by the American political scientist Joseph S. Nye and understood as the “ability to affect others by attraction and persuasion.” Either directly or through compliant surrogates, these two countries have devoted billions of dollars to increasing their global influence through media, culture, think tanks, academia and other spheres.Despite these immense investments

Feb. 4, 2018

[Ernest Moniz, Sam Nunn] Three steps to avert an accidental nuclear war

The world has crossed over to a new nuclear era, where a fateful error -- rather than intentional aggression -- is the most likely catalyst to nuclear catastrophe.　American leaders have been warned more than once of incoming Russian missiles -- in each case, it was a false alarm resulting from technical or human error. Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin was mistakenly alerted to a possible US missile strike after the launch of a Norwegian scientific rocket.After every incident, we deceive ou

Feb. 4, 2018

[Sławomir Sierakowski] How Eastern European populism is different

In 2016, the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s election to the US presidency created an impression that Eastern European-style populism was engulfing the West. In reality, the situation in Western Europe and the US is starkly different.As political scientists Martin Eiermann, Yascha Mounk and Limor Goultchin of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change have shown, only in Europe’s postcommunist east do populists routinely beat traditional parties in elections. Of 15 Eastern

Feb. 2, 2018

[Jonathan Bernstein] Trump’s insubstantial State of the Union

This was a long, long, long State of the Union speech. It was heavy on traumatic stories of guests in the gallery, and light -- in most cases, extremely light -- on the policies that would turn words into action.　As a piece of rhetoric, Trump’s speech was dull, albeit no duller than most State of the Union speeches. Presidents usually struggle to rise above this annual occasion even if they are good at soaring -- and soaring is not Trump’s strength as a public speaker.It stood out mostly for the

Feb. 1, 2018

[Adam Minter] Don’t fear China’s takeover of the Arctic

Last week, China said it plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” that will open shipping lanes across the largely pristine region at the top of the world. It’s an ambitious idea for a country that lacks an Arctic border, and it has raised concerns around the world about China’s ultimate intentions and its capacity for environmental stewardship. Although these are reasonable worries, they’re almost certainly overblown.　In theory, melting Arctic ice will create a significant economic opportunity. By on

Feb. 1, 2018

[Rohit Jigyasu] Reducing risks to cultural heritage from disasters

Each year disasters caused by natural and human induced hazards cause enormous damage to cultural heritage, which include historic buildings, urban areas, museums, libraries and archives depriving communities of their irreplaceable cultural assets. Moreover, damage to cultural landscapes and local flora and fauna in general cause loss of valued ecosystem services, thereby putting sustainability of local communities at risk. Often disasters also affect the intangible cultural heritage of traditio

Feb. 1, 2018

[Rana B. Khoury] Tillerson’s magical thinking on Syria

In a speech at Stanford recently, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson outlined “the way forward” for the United States in Syria. He announced that the US military would have an open-ended presence inside the country and envisioned a Syria free of the Islamic State group, al-Qaida, Iran, weapons of mass destruction and President Bashar Assad. He also laid out a “new” strategy to achieve all this: Buttressed by its military, the US will expend diplomatic energy on stabilization programs and the UN-le

Jan. 31, 2018

[Peter Tasker] Kuroda deserves a second term as Bank of Japan governor

The re-election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in October was welcomed warmly by stock market investors. The reappointment of Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda to another five-year term starting this April would also be viewed as a reassuring sign of policy continuity.The Japanese tradition of naming economic expansions after Shinto deities dates back to the 1950s. A fitting name for the current period of growth, already the second longest since the war, might be the “Amaterasu boom,” a reference

Jan. 31, 2018

[Patrick Sharkey] Community investment, not punishment, key to reducing violence

For more than four decades, the US’ national approach to addressing crime and violence has focused on punishment.　Police forces have grown larger and more militant, prosecutors have become more aggressive, and criminal justice policies have gotten increasingly harsh. As a result, the United States has unprecedented rates of incarceration. There are almost 7 million Americans under the supervision of the criminal justice system — in jails, in prisons, on probation or on parole.　In part because vi

Jan. 31, 2018

[Virginia Postrel] Youth! Street life! The case for crowded neighborhoods

California Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, has introduced a bill that could significantly ease the state’s urban housing crisis.Wiener’s bill would essentially prohibit cities from acting like suburbs, forcing them to allow builders to line their wide boulevards with medium-rise apartment buildings. SB 827 would forbid cities from imposing controls such as density and parking requirements on new residential construction within 805 meters of a major transit station or 400 meters from

Jan. 30, 2018

[Tracy Chen] To understand China’s growth, look at its tourists

If you want to gauge how Chinese consumers are reshaping the world, look at how many of them are leaving China.　For vacation, that is. Outbound Chinese tourism has enjoyed explosive growth over the past decade and there’s plenty more where that came from: only 5 percent of the Middle Kingdom’s citizens hold a passport, compared with 40 percent in the US. That’s a lot of ground to make up and suggests this boom has some staying power.　Investors would do well to focus on the beneficiaries, and not

Jan. 30, 2018