[Kim Seong-kon] Rereading Richard Kim’s ‘The Martyred’ in 2019

When I first came across Richard Kim’s “The Martyred” in 1967, I was an intellectually adventurous and emotionally vulnerable college freshman. At the time, I was intrigued and mesmerized by the novels of Albert Camus and Fyodor Dostoevsky. “The Martyred,” too, was a thought-provoking novel that resonates with Camus’s nihilistic existentialism and saturated with a philosophical rigor comparable to Dostoevsky.The story of is set in Pyongyang, the capital city o

July 30, 2019

[Robert J. Fouser] An effective response to the global populist wave

Last spring, a Korean friend used the phrase “things people can still do” in broad conversation about business and current events. Last week, I was reminded of the phrase when I took a ride in a driverless car for the first time. There was a driver, but he was there as a backup in case something went wrong. The car had no steering wheel and the driver had very little to do except start it after the passenger was safely seated. It handled curves and corners better than most drivers an

July 30, 2019

[Jeffrey D. Sachs] The crisis of Anglo-American democracy

How did the world’s two most venerable and influential democracies -- the United Kingdom and the United States -- end up with Donald Trump and Boris Johnson at the helm? Trump is not wrong to call Johnson the “Britain Trump” (sic). Nor is this merely a matter of similar personalities or styles: It is also a reflection of glaring flaws in the political institutions that enabled such men to win power. Both Trump and Johnson have what the Irish physicist and psychologist Ian Hughe

July 29, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] Today’s world leaders are walking cliches

One of the most striking things about Boris Johnson, who became UK prime minister last week, is how precisely he fits the stereotype of the eccentric upper-class Brit. With his elevation, Britain joins several other major nations led by people who embody their national stereotypes, and not the best of them at that; it could be argued, however, that it’s leaders defying such cliches who take their countries forward.In a paean to Johnson published on Quillette, his onetime Oxford schoolmate

July 29, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] Germany should just drop NATO’s 2 percent spending goal

On Wednesday, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the likely successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel, took over as Germany’s defense minister. In a speech to parliament outlining her priorities, AKK, as she is known, said she would “hold fast” to the goal of increasing the country’s defense spending to 2 percent of economic output -- but that Germany would aim to attain military spending of 1.5 percent gross domestic product by 2024, when North Atlantic Treaty Organization member s

July 28, 2019

[David Ignatius] US ally in Syria faces new threats

KOBANI, Syria -- In the direct and disciplined voice of Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Kurdish militia, you can hear the determination that has made the Kurds a great partner for America, and one of the extraordinary survival stories of the Middle East. Mazloum quietly enumerates the sacrifices made by his group, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, in the obliteration of the Islamic State here: 11,000 of his fighters were killed, 24,000 were wounded, and many thousands of civi

July 28, 2019

[David Ignatius] US military muscle in Persian Gulf

ABOARD THE USS BOXER IN THE PERSIAN GULF -- Capt. Ronald Dowdell was on the starboard side of the bridge, looking toward Iran, as his vessel passed through the Strait of Hormuz on July 18. He’d been monitored by Iranian helicopters and speedboats, but now a drone was closing fast. Dowdell ordered his crew to disable the drone because it “looked like a potential threat,” he said in an interview on that same bridge Tuesday. The danger signs were the drone’s proximity to the

July 25, 2019

[David Ignatius] Uncertainty clouds the path forward for Afghanistan

At the military headquarters here (Kabul) where commanders oversee America’s longest war, an official explains in one sentence the US-led coalition’s bottom-line objective: “Peace is a situation where we can leave, and we don’t have to come back.”But how will the United States move toward this endgame, as US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad nears conclusion of his secret peace negotiations with the Taliban jihadists that America has been fighting for 18 years? Afghan

July 24, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] A comedian‘s triumph is a test for benevolent populism

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has achieved something none of his predecessors managed: Winning a parliamentary majority, obviating the need to form a coalition. Whether he knows how to capitalize on this unprecedented victory will be evident from his next steps.According to preliminary results from Sunday’s snap election, Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People grouping looks set to not only win 122 seats under the party list system, but a further 125 seats under the first-past-t

July 24, 2019

[Ashoka Mody] Let’s choose the best person to lead the IMF

Now that Christine Lagarde has announced her resignation as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, German chancellor Angela Merkel says Europeans “again” have a “claim” to fill what is arguably the world’s most important economic job. Merkel is invoking a decades-old political deal, which gives Europe the IMF leadership in return for allowing Americans to run the World Bank.If global leaders want the IMF to achieve its mission of ensuring internationa

July 23, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Ultra-nationalism in the era of globalism

We are now living in the era of globalism when the whole world has become a global village. The boundaries between nations are rapidly collapsing and people are experiencing crossovers everywhere. Take the EU, for example. Practically the whole continent of Europe has become a global village already and Europeans are freely crossing borders without an entry visa, using the same currency and their mobile phone with no extra charge. Why, then, are we witnessing such sudden unprecedented change in

July 23, 2019

[Trudy Rubin] A free press can never be taken for granted

Earlier this month, President Trump addressed a group of so-called “digital leaders” invited to a social media summit at the White House.The guests included far right social media activists linked to white nationalists who spew out racist and anti-Muslim messages. They included individuals who produce fake videos, use hoaxes to smear Democratic candidates, and disseminate dangerous conspiracy theories. Only at the last minute was the welcome mat withdrawn from cartoonist Ben Garrison

July 22, 2019

[Andrew Sheng] Bastille Day and global populist uprising

July 14 is celebrated in France as Bastille Day, on which day 230 years ago, French peasants stormed the Bastille prison in Paris and sparked off the French Revolution. Thus began the populist movement that overturned the Ancien Regime (old order) of absolute monarchy and replaced it with the popular creed of liberty, equality and fraternity. There is a popular story that when Henry Kissinger asked the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1972 what was his view of the French Revolution, he said it

July 22, 2019

[Noah Smith] South Korea foreshadows gray, slow-growth future

In 1960, South Korea had a total fertility rate of more than six children per woman, high enough to cause a population explosion. But as the country developed, this number dropped decade by decade:A country needs a fertility rate of about 2.1 -- a little more than one child per parent -- to maintain long-term population stability. South Korea’s fertility is now about half that number. And it’s still falling. The country’s statistics office reported that in 2018, the fertility r

July 21, 2019

[Ann McFeatters] What is the definition of a racist in 2019?

It is astounding that 159 years after the end of the Civil War we are having a full-throated debate about whether the US president is a racist. Or is that surprising?Donald Trump’s tweet that four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” (Three were born in the US; another is a legal immigrant) caused the House of Representatives to pass a resolution denouncing his comments. It was, perhap

July 21, 2019

[David Ignatius] America’s immediate challenge in Persian Gulf is maritime security

Here’s the most intriguing fact about Iran’s apparent seizure Saturday of a small oil tanker about 385 kilometers northwest of here: Thus far, it has brought only a muted response from the United Arab Emirates, in whose waters the vessel had been operating, and from the United States, which is quietly organizing a multinational effort to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf. If this were a boxing match, you’d say that the United States is trying to let Iran punch itself out. Th

July 18, 2019

[Kim Myong-sik] South Korean military lowers guards against North prematurely

South Korea currently ranks 12th in terms of economic power of nations. It ranks a little higher in international researchers’ comparison of military strength. The oft-quoted Global Fire Power website listed the Republic of Korea as seventh in the world in its 2019 report. Based on a total of 55 metrics -- including weapons diversity, total population, military manpower and financial capabilities -- the GFP index covering 137 countries put South Korea below the US, Russia, China, India, Fr

July 17, 2019

[Timothy L. O’Brien] Trump’s ‘go back’ tweets leave no room for doubt

As he has so many times since bursting onto the presidential stage in 2015, Donald Trump played the race card Sunday. He launched nearly three dozen broadsides on Twitter throughout the day, but a trio of his tweets stood out because they demonstrated how casually he likes to uncork his venom and how unwilling the Republican Party is to contain him.Trump was targeting four new Democratic congresswomen of color (nicknamed the “Squad”) who have become ubiquitous advocates for progressi

July 17, 2019

[Robert J. Fouser] Improving relations between South Korea and Japan

South Korea and Japan are at it again. On July 1, the Japanese government decided to restrict exports to South Korea of three products used in semiconductor and smartphone manufacturing. It argued that the products could be used for making weapons if they fell into North Korean hands. The action caused an uproar in South Korea, and people accused Japan of using the issue to weaken the Korean economy. Neither country appears willing to negotiate a solution to address complaints on both sides.Rela

July 16, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Five things we should do to overcome crisis

Watching Korea helplessly caught in the vortex of international crises and domestic turbulence these days, one cannot but ponder how Korea can survive in these difficult times. Of course, it will not be easy to overcome the hardship, and yet we should try hard to survive and even thrive, turning the crisis into an opportunity. What, then, should we do? First, we should promote and maintain good relationships with neighboring countries and allies, especially with Japan and the United States. This

July 16, 2019