[Lynn Schmidt] Standing for values instead of personalities

William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” etched in the minds of people the world around the famous phrase, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Shakespeare was making the point that calling someone or labeling something is arbitrary. It is the intrinsic qualities of the person or thing that matter. A couple of weeks ago, two conferences were happening at the same time. Both shared similar names, but t

March 18, 2022

[Lee Kyong-hee] Gender in election: Irony and solidarity

The presidential election was unprecedented not only for its closeness but for the nonappearance of the leading candidates’ wives in the run-up to the polling. But, of course, we have never seen spouses engulfed with so much scandal that they are reduced to a public apology and completely marginalized. Upon confirmation of his victory, Yoon Suk-yeol visited his campaign staff and party echelon at the People Power Party, where he made a brief announcement. In the wee hours around 4 a.m.,

March 17, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] Ten propositions for Korea’s brighter future

Now that the Korean people have chosen their new leader, who will steer the country for the next five years. Many Koreans are full of hope and expectation about the upcoming new era in South Korea. While congratulating the winner, I have 10 propositions for a brighter future for South Korea, which President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol might want to consider. First, our political leaders should be mindful not to resemble Captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” who drags his shi

March 16, 2022

[Doyle McManus] China wanted to appear neutral between Russia and Ukraine. It isn’t

When Russia invaded Ukraine last month, a spate of wishful thinking ran through the West that China, a great power with friends on both sides, might step in to mediate a cease-fire. China’s government struck a pose of neutrality, called for a peaceful resolution and said it supported the principle of “territorial integrity.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a public plea to China’s Xi Jinping to intervene. But Xi has been missing in action -- and in practice

March 16, 2022

[George Soros] Vladimir Putin and the risk of World War III

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 was the beginning of a third world war that has the potential to destroy our civilization. The invasion was preceded by a long meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 4 -- the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations and the Beijing Winter Olympics. At the end of that meeting, the two men released a 5,000-word, carefully drafted document announcing a close partnership between their two cou

March 15, 2022

[Trudy Rubin] Mariupol’s bombed maternity hospital exemplifies why NATO should protect Ukraine’s skies

Four weeks ago I visited the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and spoke with residents about a possible Russian invasion. None of them imagined they would soon be besieged by a Russian military that has cut off their water, electricity and food supplies, and that deliberately attacks civilian targets -- including a maternity hospital and civilian convoys trying to leave. My translator is now hunkered down in a basement with her mom, three cats and three other adults. I’ve not been able to

March 15, 2022

[Hanne Beirens] Is Europe ready to handle Ukraine’s growing refugee crisis?

Since Russia’s invasion, more than 2 million people have fled Ukraine. An additional 4 million might not be far behind in what’s shaping up as Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. But is Europe ready to handle it? The European Union and member states have shown a massive outpouring of support. Countries bordering Ukraine, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania have rapidly erected reception centers, where tired and bedraggled arrivals are being warmly

March 14, 2022

[Robert J. Fouser] South Korea’s trade security in a fracturing world

The Russian invasion of Ukraine caught almost everyone by surprise. US President Biden had repeatedly warned the world that Russian President Vladimir Putin would move on Ukraine, but few people thought he would launch a massive invasion. Fewer still thought that he would intimate at the possible use of nuclear weapons. In the two weeks since the full invasion began, Ukrainian forces have mounted fierce resistance and have thwarted Russian attempts to capture Kyiv, the capital, and overthrow th

March 11, 2022

[Hal Brands] Aiding a Ukrainian insurgency would be painful and costly

Suppose Russia succeeds in toppling the Ukrainian government or seizing much of the country. Moscow’s slow start notwithstanding, this could well happen: The balance of combat power is likely to favor Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war rolls on. So what happens then? One option being debated in Western policy circles is funneling arms, money and other support to a Ukrainian insurgency. The strategic case is compelling, but no one should kid themselves about the costs. Waging insu

March 10, 2022

[Kim Myong-sik] A few pieces of advice for the president-elect

By the time this article is published, the National Election Commission should have already announced the winner of the 2022 presidential election of South Korea. The new president will take office on May 10 to lead a nation that offers him many tasks that have grown heavier during the past five years of the Moon Jae-in administration. My first advice to the president-elect, with sincere wishes for successful governance, is that he had better change, as quickly as possible, his self-concept fro

March 10, 2022

[Doyle McManus] As bad as the war in Ukraine is now, it’s likely to get worse

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent 90 minutes on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, who asked him to declare a cease-fire in Ukraine. Not interested, Putin replied. “He refuses to stop his attacks,” Macron wrote on Twitter after the call. A French official said Putin seemed determined “to take control of all of Ukraine.” “The worst is yet to come,” the official added. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is in its second week. So

March 9, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] The new driver of a bus named Korea

The fateful day of deciding Korea’s future has arrived at last. Today, the Korean people will choose their destiny by electing their new political leader. If we vote for the wrong person, our future will be grim and bleak. If we choose the right person, we might avoid the calamity of utter collapse, if not have the luxury of a bright future. In that sense, the 2022 presidential election will be one of the most crucial ones South Korea has ever had. Unfortunately, the 2022 Korean election

March 9, 2022

[Minxin Pei] Whether it sides with Russia or not, China will pay a price

Until Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last week, the standoff between Russia and a US-led Western alliance had produced, on balance, a net strategic benefit for China. Now that Putin has pulled the trigger, the geopolitical game has completely changed. The months of tension had distracted the US from China, which Washington sees as its most formidable long-term threat. And looking ahead, Putin’s full tilt toward China, driven by his grievances against the West, would sign

March 8, 2022

[Benjamin Carter Hett] Putin and the desperation of tyrants

In recent days the world has watched with astonishment and admiration as the people of Ukraine have put up fierce -- and so far, successful -- resistance against Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of their country. Putin has united the world against him like never before. Unexpectedly severe sanctions are starting to bite deeply into the Russian economy. Even thousands of brave Russians have taken to their own streets to protest the war. It may be that Russia will still manage to win some

March 8, 2022

[Josep Borrell] Putin’s war has given birth to geopolitical Europe

Some weeks can feel like decades, and this week has been one of them. With Russia’s naked act of aggression against Ukraine, the tragedy of war has erupted in Europe once again. Russian forces have shelled residential housing, schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure. The Kremlin’s propaganda machine has been pushed into overdrive in its effort to justify the unjustifiable. More than one million people have already fled the violence with more to come. Ukrainians, meanwh

March 7, 2022

[Lee Kyong-hee] Romanization of Korean -- alphabet buffet

The Oxford English Dictionary’s latest update on words of Korean origin is yet another reminder of chronic confusion in the romanization of the Korean language. The world’s most authoritative dictionary of the English language added 26 words of Korean origin, more than doubling the number to 50. It was an unprecedented update load from a single language, acknowledgement of the global penetration of Korean cultural content. But while the OED’s description of a “daebak&rd

March 3, 2022

[Jean Pisani-Ferry] Will the climate agenda unravel?

In a recent survey, 52 percent of French citizens cited their purchasing power as a major concern. Only 29 percent mentioned the environment, putting this issue roughly on a par with the health system (30 percent) and immigration (28 percent). Given this background, it is no surprise that the transition to a climate-neutral economy does not feature prominently in the current French presidential election campaign. With the start of the war in Ukraine, the French may -- for once -- discuss foreig

March 3, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] We lost our guiding star Lee O-young

When professor Lee O-young sadly passed away last week, Korea lost its precious Polaris, the North Star that has guided her people in the darkest hours of the night. When he was with us, we were already praising him as a legendary person so rarely and extraordinarily gifted that someone like him could appear only once in a century. Now leaving this world after 89 years, he has become a legend again. Professor Lee lived an admirable life with fame and honor. A renowned literary critic and proli

March 2, 2022

[Doyle McManus] Welcome to Cold War 2.0

No matter how Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine ends, it already marks a turning point in history: the end of a 30-year period of relative peace in Europe and a return to hostility between Russia and its neighbors -- a kind of Cold War 2.0. If we’re lucky. The first Cold War, from 1947 until 1991, divided the world between two hostile blocs. The United States and the Soviet Union reached the brink of nuclear war at least three times, most famously in the 1962 Cuban missile crisi

March 2, 2022

[Jeffrey Frankel] Fighting the last inflation war

In 1955, then-US Federal Reserve Chair William McChesney Martin famously said that the Fed’s job was to take away the punch bowl “just when the party was really warming up,” rather than waiting until the revelers were drunk and raucous. Decades later, in the aftermath of the 1970s inflation, it became an article of faith among monetary policymakers that they should not wait until elevated inflation showed its face before reining in an overheating economy. Today, with inflation

March 1, 2022