[Chris Edelson] Surreal prospect of Trump's reelection

In the wake of Donald Trump’s federal indictment, the former president remains legally eligible to run again -- even if he is convicted, and even (bizarrely) if he is incarcerated, which is unlikely to occur before the election. In a functioning, healthy democracy, Trump would be denied the Republican Party’s nomination. GOP elites would stand together to reject his candidacy and rally behind a nominee who is not facing criminal prosecution related to willful retention of classified

July 19, 2023

[Howard Davies] Buffer madness

Speaking at this summer’s European Central Bank Forum in Portugal, Gita Gopinath, the International Monetary Fund’s first deputy managing director, set out what she described as “Three Uncomfortable Truths for Monetary Policy.” But it was the speech itself that often made for awkward listening. Gopinath’s first truth was that “inflation is taking too long to get back to target” and that “sustained high inflation makes bringing down inflation more d

July 18, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] The promises and perils of the tech war

How well or badly is the US-China chip war going? After the Biden administration announced its industrial strategy to revitalize domestic manufacturing, create jobs, strengthen American supply chains and accelerate future industries, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 will give as much as $280 billion over the next decade to support US semiconductor chip industry. Goodbye free markets, hello industrial policy. The outcome of the US-China rivalry hinges on the technology edge and how to use such t

July 18, 2023

[Peter Singer] The coming disruption of animal production

One day, we may look back on 2023 as the year when it became apparent that the gigantic industry of raising animals for food was heading the same way as the industry that for most of the 20th century dominated how we record and store images. Is this year the equivalent, for animal production, of 1989, when the first digital camera aimed at the general public was launched? There are signs that it might be, starting with the Israeli Ministry of Health’s approval, in April, of a dairy produc

July 17, 2023

[James Stavridis] NATO's Arctic windfall: Finland, Sweden

In the wake of Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the alliance can take a well-deserved victory lap. I commanded troops from both nations in Afghanistan, and Swedish forces in the Libyan campaign of 2011. The countries have professional and motivated personnel equipped with superb technology systems, from advanced fighter jets to stealthy naval corvettes. This spells trouble for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military, already much d

July 17, 2023

[Nani Jansen Reventlow] Righting imperialism's wrongs

At long last, European countries have begun to grapple with their colonial legacies. In the Netherlands, the government has issued an apology for the country’s role in the global slave trade, and the king has “asked for forgiveness.” The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has urged Denmark to “address the negative impacts” of its colonization of Greenland. And in the United Kingdom, media outlets, the Church of England, and cities

July 14, 2023

[Carl P. Leubsdorf] Dangerous criticisms of Biden

Despite differences on abortion and Ukraine, most members of the large Republican presidential field have generally followed former President Donald Trump’s lead in roundly condemning President Joe Biden. While some of that criticism is justified -- his difficulty in taming inflation, or his mishandling of Afghanistan, for example -- some is not. And the most dangerous example of mistaken Republican Party condemnation of Biden is the continuing assertion that the current administration i

July 13, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] Another scenario for Fukushima wastewater problem

Japan's discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant seems imminent. As the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the discharge plan meets safety standards, the only thing that remains is Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision on the discharge date. Some Japanese media are predicting the release in August. The prospect that the Japanese government will push ahead with the release underscores the IAEA's final report. It is also a boon for

July 13, 2023

[Yuliya Tymoshenko] What Ukraine brings to NATO

This week, almost every Ukrainian will be looking longingly toward Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius. It is there, at the summit of NATO’s leaders, that our place in Europe and the West will begin to be decided. Although virtually all Ukrainians dream of NATO membership, the brutal fighting in which we have been forced to engage since Russia invaded our country nearly 18 months ago has taught us hard lessons in realism. So, we are well aware that making our NATO dream a reality will be

July 12, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Asian students in affirmative action controversy

History will remember 2022 and 2023 as pivotal times when the US Supreme Court overturned two monumental legal precedents in America: women’s abortion rights and affirmative action. Conservatives say that times have changed now and we no longer need the two. However, liberals worry that America has become hopelessly conservative due to the justices appointed by former President Donald Trump. The 2022 decision of the US Supreme Court that reversed the famous 1973 Roe v. Wade case that dec

July 12, 2023

[Jean Guerrero] US top court waging war on youth

The Supreme Court's right-wing majority seems to be declaring war on young people. In recent days alone, the court has halted affirmative action in colleges, derailed student loan debt forgiveness and approved discrimination against LGBTQ+ couples in certain cases. The conservative justices seem hellbent on making the country a more hostile place for Gen Z and millennials, the most diverse voters in terms of race, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation. Many young people see in

July 11, 2023

[Stephen Mihm] How Titanic became a money-making scheme

The ill-fated passengers who died trying to visit the wreck of the Titanic paid an extraordinary price for the privilege: $250,000 each. This is hardly surprising, given how many people view the story of the doomed ship with intense, if morbid, fascination. While it’s tempting to blame James Cameron for this state of affairs, that’s not quite right. Our obsession with the Titanic tragedy, along with monetizing it, has far deeper roots. Even as the corpses of those who died in the tra

July 11, 2023

[Jean Pisani-Ferry] Can climate investment be financed by debt?

Climate ambitions are running into macroeconomic headwinds in the European Union and the United Kingdom. Speaking in late May, French Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire adamantly rejected the idea that France’s transition to a net-zero economy should be financed by issuing more debt. Then, just days later, Rachel Reeves, the UK’s shadow chancellor, backtracked from an earlier campaign pledge to borrow 28 billion euros ($35 billion) per year to finance climate investments. She now

July 10, 2023

[Elizabeth Shackelford] Ignoring migrants won‘t fix problems

For five days, “Breaking News” alerts hit my phone repeatedly with updates on the search for a missing submersible. The search for the five-passenger vessel began only days after an overloaded migrant vessel capsized carrying some 750 desperate people bound for Greece. The migrants aboard came from Pakistan, Egypt, Syria and Palestine, all funneled through Libya in a desperate attempt to reach Europe. Only 104 survivors have been found, making it one of the deadliest sinkings ever in

July 7, 2023

[Antara Haldar] Supreme Court kicks away ladder

Fifteen years ago, I watched in rapt attention as a resplendent, yet surreal, scene unfolded: the election of the first-ever African-American US president, Barack Obama. In the past week, the US Supreme Court, in a landmark 6-3 ruling, struck down what may have been one of the key factors in making that story possible: affirmative action in higher education. In an opinion drafted by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court rejected race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard (Obama’s law sc

July 6, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] From brittle armistice to permanent peace

Seven decades after an armistice halted massive death and destruction throughout the Korean Peninsula, the South and North remain technically at war. With leaders of both sides ramping up belligerent rhetoric, a formal peace agreement is as elusive as it was in 1953. Talking about peace right now seems naive, or for some even like leftist pro-North propaganda. Unification looks even farther off. The older generation still misses family members and friends who ended up on the opposite side in the

July 6, 2023

[Doyle McManus] Don’t count Putin out -- not yet

A little more than a week ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power appeared to be disintegrating. Rebel mercenaries were advancing on Moscow against little or no resistance. Wealthy Muscovites scrambled for tickets out of the country. A coup d’etat attempt seemed imminent. And then, a perplexing reversal. After denouncing the mutiny as “treason,” Putin agreed to allow its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to take exile in neighboring Belarus. Prigozhin, presumably r

July 5, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Moderation: The PC and 'woke' campaigns

Since the late 1980s, the term “political correctness,” abbreviated PC, has been widely used by American liberals and radicals. “PC” was a term that described language or behavior that was meant to avoid offense to the socially marginalized. In the 1990s, therefore, one would frequently hear, “Is it politically correct?” or “Is he politically correct?” At that time, you should be very careful not to say or do anything “politically incorrect.&

July 5, 2023

[Robin Abcarian] Supreme Court justices need high ethical standards

Why do some United States Supreme Court justices have such a hard time saying no? Believe me, I understand the temptation. Columnists may not be judges in the traditional sense, but we are judges in the court of public opinion. Occasionally, I've been offered gifts in exchange for a positive ruling (well, a positive column) on a controversial issue that may come before me. Attractive as these offers may be, they are just not that difficult to refuse. Especially when the institution's c

July 4, 2023

[Martin Schram] Enact re-affirmative action now

On Wednesday in the nation’s capital, officials at all levels were busily working on official papers that would have a lot to do with Jaylin Osborne’s hopes and dreams for a bright future in college and beyond. Jaylin, after all, was the sort of slim 15-year-old who was known not only for looking good in dreadlocks but also for helping his eighth-grade classmates. He had every reason to dream big. “Bright student … a hard-working, curious scholar … a leader among

July 4, 2023