Since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office in late June and declared a “war on drugs,” more than 1,900 people have been killed -- 756 by police officers and another 1,160 by “vigilantes,” according to police reports as of Aug. 24. Duterte is celebrating the killings and has vowed to continue his anti-drug program so long as he remains president.The Philippine law enforcement agencies prosecuting the drug war have thrown out the rulebook and ignored fundamental requirements such as co

Sept. 4, 2016

No one yet knows when the United Kingdom will present an agenda for negotiating its withdrawal from the European Union. But it is already clear that Brexit will reshape the map of Europe. And, especially given Britain’s stunning unpreparedness for the consequences of its own decision -- its strategy, priorities and even its time table remain uncertain -- that means the EU must start figuring out how to make the best of it. Here’s how.Let’s start with the only certainties: The Brexit negotiations

Sept. 4, 2016

The United States doesn‘t have a lot of standing to criticize Europeans for cracking down on Apple’s tax shenanigans in Ireland.If anything, the European Commission’s finding that Apple owes more than $14 billion in taxes should push the US to fix its own tax policies, under which its biggest companies stash most of their cash overseas to avoid domestic taxes.As highlighted by the presidential election, globalization and its negative effects on the US are a concern across party lines. Lack of fu

Sept. 4, 2016

Barack Obama and Xi Jinping have obvious disagreements over how to handle North Korea’s illicit weapons program. China is angry about US plans to deploy advanced missile defenses in South Korea to counter the threat, while Obama faces pressure to sanction Chinese banks and companies that help sustain Kim Jong-un’s nuclear ambitions. But the two presidents still have plenty of room to cooperate on this issue, if they can zero in on actions that are in both countries’ interests.North Korea’s succe

Sept. 2, 2016

The sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held in Nairobi, with the leaders of Japan and about 50 African nations attending, among others. They adopted the Nairobi Declaration, calling for economic structural reforms and reinforcing measures against communicable diseases as its main pillars.In a keynote speech, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged a total of $30 billion in investments from the public and private sectors over a period of three years through 2018, and to dev

Sept. 1, 2016

Would you believe it has only been two months into the Duterte presidency? From the fast, furious, loud and graphic news and exchanges that have captured our attention, you would think the Duterte government had been in place for a few years. This tells us of the ripeness of the moment for change, not the usual kind that we take for granted, but change that needs to erupt from almost nowhere. This also speaks of the character of a man handpicked by destiny more than by personal ambition.Destined

Sept. 1, 2016

Whatever the motive and whoever was behind the attack on a Medan church on Sunday, Indonesia could be facing a new security threat in the form of people, particularly youth, who sympathize with the terrorist Islamic State group and are willing to manifest its creed of violence in this country.Failure to anticipate similar attacks may stretch religious harmony and the state’s commitment to protect religious minorities in this diverse nation to the limit, despite the fact that terrorism knows no r

Sept. 1, 2016

WASHINGTON -- The US military campaign to seize the Islamic State group’s capital of Raqqa may be delayed because of a nasty fight between Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the YPG. Sadly, it is a classic Middle East moment, when regional players’ mistrust for each other overwhelms their common interest in fighting the terrorist Islamic State group. And, equally sadly, it is a moment that illustrates the frailty of the US’ Syrian policy, which has built its military plans on the tre

Sept. 1, 2016

Germany’s vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, says talks about a major trade deal between the European Union and the US have failed, though “nobody is really admitting it.” That statement should be taken with a grain of salt, but the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership appears to be doomed, at least until after elections in the US and major European countries.　Gabriel’s Economy Ministry is not involved in the TTIP negotiations. He also is the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party,

Aug. 31, 2016

In the classical Greek tragedy The Bacchae, the god Dionysus, powered by a thirst for vengeance, battles the inflexible and closed-minded King Pentheus for the soul of Thebes. Ultimately, Pentheus’s rigidity -- his attempt to suppress, rather than understand or adapt to, the emotions inflamed by the passionate and unconventional Dionysus -- proves to be his undoing. Dionysus emerges victorious, and Pentheus is ripped to shreds.Today, the emotional and mercurial Donald Trump is challenging the US

Aug. 31, 2016

Economists too often talk about policy changes in the abstract, ignoring the drawbacks that even sensible reforms can bring. For years, analysts have been urging China to shift its economy away from heavy industry and toward services and consumption. Yet now that Beijing is taking heed, the costs are piling up.　Most obvious is a deepening gulf between winners and losers. A recent study from Peking University found that China has become one of the most unequal countries in the world. The richest

Aug. 31, 2016

I caught a glimpse of Vladimir Putin‘s Russia in a Moscow police station 25 years ago.The USSR was disintegrating around me. I was a University of Pennsylvania graduate student in Russian history spending a year in Moscow poring over newly declassified Soviet Communist Party archives. As I immersed myself in documents that revealed startling details about the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the revolution of 1991-92 was transforming the Soviet Union.Although on the streets things seeme

Aug. 30, 2016

In the eyes of young people, older people may look like an entirely different species. Of course, you cannot stereotype someone simply because he is old, and yet many older people are hopelessly pathetic and unbearable for many reasons. For example, they are incredibly stubborn and impudent, and authoritative and overbearing. Many older men display the characteristics of male chauvinists, too. Due to the destitute situation in which they were raised, they are likely to be stingy, parochial and n

Aug. 30, 2016