[Leonid Bershidsky] EU doesn’t want to be more democratic

The European Union has had a democratic legitimacy problem for years: Its governing bodies -- with the exception of those that consist of national leaders and ministers -- are neither particularly responsive nor accountable to ordinary European voters. And, as the latest failed attempt to reform them has shown, they like it this way, for all the rhetoric about the need to overcome the democratic deficit.Voters have influence on the EU via two channels. One is electing national leaders, who, thro

Feb. 20, 2018

[Leonid Bershidsky] Geostrategists: Give Russia and China a rest

In recent years, concern about a resurgent Russia has dominated the Western security establishment’s conversations. Judging by this year’s edition of the Munich Security Report, which traditionally sets the agenda for the high-profile conference held in the Bavarian city -- it’s starting on Friday -- the focus is gradually beginning to shift to China. Big and important as these authoritarian countries are, though, I can’t help thinking the West should pay a bit more attention to internal threats

Feb. 19, 2018

[Andrew Polk] Chinese need to learn to save again

For years, economists and policymakers have hailed the propensity of Chinese to save. Among other things, they’ve pointed to low household debt as reason not to fear a financial crash in the world’s second-biggest economy. Now, though, one of China’s greatest economic strengths is becoming a crucial weakness.　Over the past two weeks, as they’ve held their annual work meetings, China’s various financial regulatory bodies have raised fears that Chinese households may be overleveraged. Banking regu

Feb. 19, 2018

[Christine M. Flowers] The forgotten side of the #MeToo movement

In the mid-1960s, I knew an elderly Greek fellow who tended to fig trees in front of his home at the end of our block. My recollections of our neighbor are hazy, but the thing that sticks with me is how gentle he was.　Years later, I learned that his wife would throw things at him, or yell through the night when he did something that angered her. He lived with her, and never complained. He never had the chance to file a restraining order, or jump onto social media for his own #MeToo moment. Like

Feb. 19, 2018

[Eli Lake] Trump’s ‘hard line’ on North Korea is soft symbolism

One could be forgiven for thinking the symbolism at the Olympics signaled a hard line from the Donald Trump administration on North Korea.　Before the opening ceremony, US Vice President Mike Pence met with North Korean dissidents. At the opening ceremonies, he sat with the parents of Otto Warmbier, the American student who was imprisoned and injured so gravely during his detention that he died shortly after being flown back to the US. In Tokyo, Pence announced that new sanctions would be unveile

Feb. 18, 2018

[Kofi A. Annan] How IT threatens democracy

The internet and social media were once hailed for creating new opportunities to spread democracy and freedom. And Twitter, Facebook, and other social media did indeed play a key role in popular uprisings in Iran in 2009, in the Arab world in 2011, and in Ukraine in 2013-2014. Back then, the tweet did at times seem mightier than the sword. But authoritarian regimes soon began cracking down on internet freedom. They feared the brave new digital world, because it was beyond the reach of their anal

Feb. 18, 2018

[Bennie Thompson and Robert A. Brady] The Russians -- and the midterms -- are coming

In November 2016, 139 million Americans cast their votes in the wake of a massive Russian cyber-enabled operation to influence the outcome of the presidential election.　The Kremlin spread disinformation through hundreds of thousands of social media posts. Russian agents hacked US political organizations and selectively exposed sensitive information. Russia targeted voting systems in at least 21 states, seeking to infiltrate the networks of voting equipment vendors, political parties and at least

Feb. 18, 2018

[Conor Sen] How Asia won the right to host three Olympics in a row

It might seem puzzling that Asia is getting three Olympics in a row. South Korea has the 2018 Winter Games, Japan has the 2020 Summer Games and China has the 2022 Winter Games. Shouldn’t the International Olympic Committee spread the wealth a bit more?　It’s not that simple, because the selection of Olympics host cities is a complicated interplay between the political and economic environments of the world when it plays out. This run of Olympics is happening in Asia largely because of the financi

Feb. 14, 2018

[Michael Schuman] Why HNA needs to fail

The latest news leaked out of China’s troubled HNA Group is not good. Management has asked its employees to hand their paychecks over, with promises of big returns down the road. It is a pretty safe assumption that any company willing to try such a scheme is tottering on the edge of the financial abyss.　HNA’s woes present China’s leadership with a serious conundrum. The airline company has been one of the country’s highest-profile global dealmakers, investing in everything from Hilton Worldwide

Feb. 13, 2018

[Adam Minter] Where China can and can’t innovate

China’s biggest tech companies are emblems of national pride. When the government decides upon a priority, Tencent, Alibaba Group and Baidu are often asked to help devise the technology to achieve it. The companies are generally spared from official criticism, let alone interference with their commercial operations.　Those privileges aren’t absolute, however, as Tencent -- the company behind the WeChat messaging app -- recently learned. Late last month, China’s central bank shut down Tencent’s fl

Feb. 13, 2018

[Jeffrey Sachs] The World Bank needs to return to its mission

The World Bank declares that its mission is to end extreme poverty within a generation and to boost shared prosperity. These goals are universally agreed as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. But the World Bank lacks an SDG strategy, and now it is turning to Wall Street to please its political masters in Washington. The Bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, should find a better way forward, and he can do so by revisiting one of his own great successes.Kim and I worked closely together from 200

Feb. 13, 2018