Showing 51 - 60 of 107
Xi's not for turning? Don't be so sure
News, Published on 05/12/2018
» As president-for-life, China's Xi Jinping is neither bound by rules nor limited by rivals. He has upended a careful political balance by concentrating power in his own hands, and overturned a cautious approach to foreign policy, while throwing in jail anyone he views as a threat. China's most dominant leader since Mao Zedong now has 90 days to head off an all-out trade war with the US provoked, in part, by his own mercantilist policies. Can anybody convince him to make a U-turn?
The long, distant echoes of World War I resonate
News, Published on 12/11/2018
» A hundred years ago yesterday, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, World War I in Europe ended. It had cost tens of millions of lives, utterly destroyed the existing political order, and paved the way for the rise of fascism and a repeat performance of global conflict in the form of World War II.
Trump's phone tap karmic revenge?
News, Published on 30/10/2018
» Specific incidents can sometimes reveal much larger truths. This would seem to be the case regarding recent revelations that the Chinese have been eavesdropping on US President Donald Trump's less-than-secure phone calls and using the information gathered as part of an elaborate plot to influence the president.
A new Potemkin village in Moscow
News, Published on 24/07/2018
» If Karl Marx could see Russia today, he might revise his view of religion's role in oppressive regimes. In the country's capital, urbanism has become the new opium of the people.
China shows the way on drug prices
News, Published on 13/07/2018
» US President Donald Trump exulted this week over Pfizer Inc's decision to delay planned drug price increases a day after he attacked the company on Twitter. He should take a look at China, where President Xi Jinping has done much better.
Innovation no fix for urban transport ills
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/07/2018
» Urban transportation is undergoing a revolution. Offerings such as Uber and Lyft, as well as car- and bike-sharing services are widely believed to reduce congestion and generally make urban dwellers more mobile; driverless cars are expected to provide further benefits. Yet the notion that these innovations always make things better is far from a given: The new services are a net good only if they complement traditional public transportation systems rather than compete with them.
The Cambridge Analytica red herring
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 21/03/2018
» Facebook is being hammered for allowing the data firm Cambridge Analytica to acquire 50 million user profiles in the US, which it may or may not have used to help the Trump campaign. But the outrage misses the target: There's nothing Cambridge Analytica could have done that Facebook itself doesn't offer political clients.
Secretive Russian billionaire vents to US conservatives
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 13/03/2018
» It's not every day that a Russian billionaire submits a op-ed piece to the Daily Caller, the conservative US website. When the billionaire in question is as media-shy as Oleg Deripaska, something extraordinary is going on. As the unfortunate recipient of an oversized role in the "Trump-Russia" scandal, he has had enough and is not quite sure how to defend himself.
Australia's turn in the muck of political tribalism
News, Daniel Moss, Published on 22/02/2018
» Australians who thought the disruptions that have led many to view North Atlantic politics with disdain wouldn't reach their corner of the world can no longer ignore reality. The urban-rural divide that drove Brexit and the election of Donald Trump is now reverberating closer to home, and it's not a good look.
'Happy' uni students still need to lift grades
News, Soonruth Bunyamanee, Published on 21/02/2018
» The recent international rankings that show almost all leading Thai universities plunged in scores and ratings must serve as a wake-up call to the government and policymakers -- Thailand's higher education system needs improvement.