[David Ignatius] Putin’s combativeness comes at a cost

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invited NBC’s Megyn Kelly to question him onstage at a glitzy forum here, maybe he thought he’d have an easier time than Donald Trump did in his confrontation with Kelly during the 2016 campaign. It didn’t work out that way.Putin’s appearance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was meant to showcase Russia’s role in the global economy. And in Putin’s prepared remarks, he was a smooth, genial salesman for his country. But then came a session wi

June 5, 2017

[Francis Wilkinson] Democracy faces the enemy within

We’re past the point of shifting blame. We know who gave us the presidency of Donald Trump, and it wasn’t Hillary Clinton or Jill Stein or James Comey.The culprit was democracy.Even if you defend democracy on the grounds that Trump lost the popular vote, it’s still a lame argument. After all, what kind of sensible political system generates 63 million votes for a thuggish incompetent to become its supreme leader?Democracy was rarely an exercise in smooth sailing. Now, this.“The choice of Mr. Tru

June 5, 2017

[Other view] How Donald Trump is ushering in the Chinese century

In February 1941, Henry R. Luce, editor and publisher of Time and Life magazines, wrote a striking editorial in Life magazine. It began by lamenting what he saw as Americans’ pessimism, “As we look out at the rest of the world we are confused; we don’t know what to do,” Luce wrote. “As we look toward the future 00 our own future and the future of other nations -- we are filled with foreboding.”Luce went on to exhort President Franklin D. Roosevelt and all Americans to get past this pessimism, to

June 5, 2017

[The Nation ] In the Marawi conflict, a warning for Thailand

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte last week declared martial law in the restive region of Mindanao to quell violence by a militant group linked to the Islamic State group in the city of Marawi. The Maute militants -- named after a local clan that has become increasingly powerful over the years by taking other extremist groups under its wing -- burned down buildings, took hostages and displaced tens of thousands of residents. The government military is struggling to regain control of the city

June 4, 2017

[Ferdinando Giugliano] Italy doesn’t need early elections

Italy’s main political parties are edging closer to agreement on a new electoral law, which could pave the way for an early election in the autumn. In theory, this ought to be good news: Italy faces formidable economic challenges; a newly elected government would have a fresh mandate to deal with them.In practice, however, a snap election is an unnecessary gamble. The vote is likely to result in a hung parliament, leaving Italy exposed at a time of financial turmoil.The case for a snap election

June 4, 2017

[Other view] Trump‘s big Paris mistake

Any rational, responsible business leader, faced with an existential threat to his enterprise, would take steps to manage the risk. With his decision to leave the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump is putting the lie to one of his central claims: that he would run the country like a business.The 2015 Paris agreement established a global target for lowering greenhouse-gas emissions -- aimed at keeping the atmosphere from warming by 2 degrees Celsius. Nearly all the world’s countries agr

June 4, 2017

[Andrew Wolman] Human rights under Moon Jae-in: five issues to watch

Korea’s most famous human rights lawyer is now its president. This bodes well for the status of human rights in the country. Korea’s reputation for respecting its people’s rights suffered during the last 10 years of conservative rule and Moon Jae-in has entered office with an extraordinarily strong reform mandate.But he will face challenges and tough decisions and will be evaluated on his ability to promote rights even in the face of political obstacles from both conservatives and his progressiv

June 4, 2017

What was Jared Kushner thinking?

It is difficult to understand exactly what motivated Jared Kushner to propose secret back-channel communications with Russia last December. As first reported by The Washington Post last week -- and still not denied by the Trump administration as of Tuesday -- Donald Trump’s son-in-law sought a secure communications channel between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin using Russian communications equipment, which strongly suggests the incoming administration wanted to avoid US intelligence m

June 2, 2017

[Tyler Cowen] Germany is the Silicon Valley of political innovation

One of the more significant quotations of last week came from President Donald Trump, when he reportedly described the Germans as “bad, very bad,” referring to their automobile exports. 　Another take on Germany, articulated by many economists and technology observers, is that the country has quality manufacturing but hasn’t been very innovative in other sectors, and is thus a disappointment.　I’d like to suggest a third view: When it comes to politics and political institutions, Germany’s record

June 1, 2017

[Ramesh Ponnuru] Losing faith in free trade will make Americans poorer

Robert Lighthizer’s nomination as US trade representative made the steel industry happy. Both the Steel Manufacturers Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute put out statements lauding the choice, with the latter citing his “dedication” to the steel industry. US Steel Corp has been Lighthizer’s most prominent client as a lawyer in recent years.　Lighthizer’s confirmation earlier this month placed him in an administration with many others with a history of supporting steel interests

June 1, 2017

[Saliba Sarsar] A plea for peace 50 years after Six-Day War

As a native of Jerusalem, I am acutely aware that this year marks a half-century since the Six-Day War, but I do not wish to write another commemoration of that, or any, war.However, 2017 is a marker of multiple significant anniversaries in the connected history of Palestinians and Israelis: 120 years since the first Zionist Congress, 100 years since the writing of the Balfour Declaration, 70 years since the United Nations General Assembly Partition Resolution, 40 years since the visit of Egypt’

June 1, 2017

[Other view] Brazen in Brazil: Endless corruption at top is reversing progress

Brazil, Latin America’s largest country in population and area, appears to be coming unstuck politically in the face of persistent corruption among its leaders.Brazilians impeached their elected president, Dilma Rousseff, last August, based on what was for Brazil minor budgetary sleight of hand. Now her successor, Michel Temer, 76, is under heavy fire, including vigorous action in the streets, in response to the appearance of a tape in which he appears to approve offering bribes to another jaile

June 1, 2017