[Kim Seong-kon] Seven types of abuse in our society

Abuse, sadly, comes in a wide variety of forms. Of them, the most widely known is child abuse. In advanced countries, child abuse is a serious crime subject to heavy penalties. Some classic types of child abuse include physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. Accordingly, corporal punishment against children hardly exists anymore in a country such as America where children are strictly protected and widely respected. Protecting children against abusive words and violent languag

Nov. 1, 2023

[Doyle McManus] Russia-watcher’s view of global crisis

Fiona Hill is worried. The onetime Russia adviser to then-President Donald Trump fears that support for Ukraine is gradually eroding, encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to wait the West out. “Putin feels everything is trending in his favor,” she warns. But she’s worried about much more than that, beginning with Israel’s war in Gaza, which has made the world more dangerous. The two conflicts aren’t directly linked, but each is likely to affect the

Nov. 1, 2023

[Lisa Jarvis] Drop that hot dog for your health

The health case against regularly eating red meat keeps getting stronger. At what point is the data convincing enough for Americans to change their diets? One recent study found that eating red meat increases the risk of type 2 diabetes; another paper finds a diet low in meat, sugar and salt but rich in vegetables and legumes is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. And both studies -- which followed thousands of people for decades -- show that replacing even a few servings of meat

Oct. 31, 2023

[Daniel DePetris] Biden‘s goals in Israel-Hamas war

As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third week, US President Joe Biden is walking a tightrope and trying to accomplish three objectives simultaneously: ensure Israel has everything it needs to defend itself in what Israeli defense officials admit will be a long and grueling campaign; remind the Israelis that civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip should be kept to an absolute minimum; and prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spiraling into a regional conflagration. It’s the geo

Oct. 27, 2023

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Fixing global economic governance

Following the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank this month, the Middle East is teetering on the edge of a major conflict, and the rest of the world continues to fracture along new economic and geopolitical lines. Rarely have the shortcomings of world leaders and existing institutional arrangements been so glaringly obvious. The IMF’s governing body could not even agree on a final communique. True, the World Bank, under its new leadership, has committe

Oct. 26, 2023

[Lisa Jarvis] Telehealth should stick around

The COVID pandemic seemed to worsen teens’ and adolescents’ mental health, according to several recent studies. But now, new research shows a reason for hope: Telehealth seems to be giving many more kids access to support. That’s a win worth celebrating. And it should push us to ensure virtual care is more permanently and equitably integrated into mental health services for minors. The worrisome gap between kids who need help and those who get it predates the pandemic. For exam

Oct. 25, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Three movies our politicians must watch

Three futuristic Hollywood thrillers, “Doom,” “Dune” and “Heart of Stone,” illuminate compelling issues we are now facing due to our problematic politicians. In “Doom,” which is set in 2046, an unknown creature attacks researchers at the Union Aerospace Corporation on Mars. Eight marines, including team leader, Sergeant “Sarge” Mahonin, and John “Reaper” Grimm, arrive at the research facility to eliminate the unidentified as

Oct. 24, 2023

[Lili Yan Ing] G7’s anti-coercion campaign against China

On Oct. 28-29, Japan will host the G7 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Osaka. The primary focus of the gathering will be improving supply-chain resilience and strengthening export controls on critical minerals and technologies. But China’s “economic coercion,” particularly the widespread disruption caused by its non-transparent and market-distorting industrial policies, is also expected to be high on the agenda. Since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has rep

Oct. 24, 2023

[Peter Mansoor] 9/11 lessons for a Gaza invasion

After the invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to destroy Hamas. “We are fighting a cruel enemy, worse than ISIS,” Netanyahu said, comparing Hamas with the Islamic State group, which was largely defeated by US, Iraqi and Kurdish forces in 2017. On the same day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant went further, stating, “We will wipe this thing called Hamas, ISIS-Gaza, off the face of the Earth. It will ce

Oct. 23, 2023

[Jeffrey Frankel] China's Great Leap Backward

Ten years ago this November, the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its Third Plenum, outlining a series of far-reaching reforms designed to sustain China’s rapid economic growth. Around that time, a naive extrapolation based on the difference in growth rates between China and the United States suggested that China’s GDP would overtake America’s by 2021. Some speculated that this could happen as early as 2019. These predictions have been far off t

Oct. 23, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] Yes, deterrence is the best defense

In October 2020, the world was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The more contagious delta strain was spreading, and fear was ever-present. Positive news from vaccine trials offered some hope that illness and death would be reduced and that the world would soon return to normal. By 2022, the pandemic had subsided, but normal did not return as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, igniting the bloodiest war in Europe since the end of World War II in 1945. A series of surprise

Oct. 20, 2023

[Nadav Ziv] Hamas’ barbarity broke my heart

Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, I’ve stumbled between nausea, anger, grief and numbness. The barbarity inches closer. My sister’s classmate from high school lost a family member. My cousin’s best friend lost her brother. A student who graduated from my high school last year is missing. My Facebook feed alternates between pleas for information and funeral announcements. Picture after picture. Grandchildren and grandparents. Youthful smiles and serene wisdom. Hav

Oct. 19, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] Civilized state differs from terrorist group

On Oct. 7, the Middle East became a sea of blood and tears again. The Palestinian militant Hamas group launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,400 Israeli soldiers and civilians. Israel has retaliated, killing more than 3,000 Palestinians, including Hamas members. Almost a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip became refugees as Israel announced evacuation warnings before a full-scale ground operation. Many would agree that Hamas' surprise attack is a criminal act again

Oct. 19, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] What does it mean to be a 'strong man?'

When people meet for the first time in English speaking countries, they usually ask, “What do you do for a living?” In South Korea, by comparison, people habitually ask, “Where is your hometown?” because Koreans are strongly attached to their hometowns. If one party shares a hometown with the other party, the two may immediately become good friends. As for me, I do not have any particular attachment to my hometown because I have lived in so many places all throughout my l

Oct. 18, 2023

[Doyle McManus] Israel’s goal in Gaza is regime change

Ever since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel has waged an intermittent but limited military campaign to keep a lid on the violent Palestinian faction. Hamas fired missiles at Israeli cities, Israel bombed Gaza from the air or attacked on the ground, then negotiated a cease-fire. The goal was never to remove Hamas; that appeared too costly. It was merely to keep it under control. Israeli military officers gave their recurring Gaza offensives a sad, cynical name: "mowing

Oct. 18, 2023

[Hal Brands] Four myths exposed by Hamas attack

The horror unleashed by Hamas is only beginning. A terrorist group that killed at least 1,200 people in Israel last weekend is now endangering countless Palestinian lives, through its cynical practice of putting military capabilities in hospitals, schools and dense urban areas. But if shocks like the one Israel suffered have any upside, it’s that they expose the sloppy thinking that allowed them to happen in the first place. This attack highlights four intellectual failures in the recent a

Oct. 17, 2023

[Robin Abcarian] Claudia Goldin's answers to gender wage gap

An American woman has won the Nobel Prize in economics for her work studying the economic lives of American women. How poetic is that? No less poetic: Harvard professor Claudia Goldin, 77, is the only woman ever to have received the award by herself, with no (male) collaborators. In her work, Goldin has tried to explain why the wage gap between men and women has persisted, and why women so often are discouraged when it comes to pursuing more advanced job opportunities. "Women are now more

Oct. 17, 2023

[Andreas Kluth] US must stand with Israel, Ukraine

Almost without exception, lawmakers from both parties in Congress are eager to give Israel whatever it asks, from missiles to dollars. And that is as it should be, for Israel just became the victim of unspeakable barbarity and now needs stalwart support. But in the very next breath, some of those same US legislators, mainly Republican extremists in the House who are beholden to former President Donald Trump, want to deny Ukraine what that beleaguered country needs to survive as a nation. These M

Oct. 16, 2023

[Peter Singer] The spiral of violence that led to Hamas

Hamas’s brazen and vicious attacks within Israel have rightly drawn condemnation from around the world. If this is a war, as both sides agree it is, then Hamas’s deliberate targeting of civilians counts as a major war crime. But the brutality demonstrated by Hamas did not emerge in a vacuum. The lesson of what is currently happening in Israel and Gaza is that violence breeds more violence. The last real chance of avoiding the tragic conflict being waged between Israel and Hamas was d

Oct. 13, 2023