Showing 1 - 10 of 42
Early education transforms lives
Oped, Justin van Fleet & Pia Rebello Britto, Published on 09/12/2025
» The leaders' declaration adopted at the end of the recent G20 summit in South Africa reaffirmed the group's commitment to tackling some of the world's most pressing challenges, from inequality and long-running conflicts to AI and climate change. It also marked a historic milestone: for the first time, the G20 identified education as one of its top global priorities.
Floods 'a recurring nightmare'
Oped, George G van der Meulen & Chamniern Vorratnchaiphan, Published on 16/09/2025
» Thailand has faced floods for more than a century. Some years are worse than others, but the pattern is consistent. The catastrophic 2011 floods remain the most painful reminder: according to the World Bank, they caused US$46.5 billion (1.5 trillion baht) in economic losses, displaced 13 million people, and claimed approximately 800 lives. Much of the country's industrial heartland was submerged for months, severely impacting global supply chains.
Artificial intelligence is not your friend
Oped, Peter G. Kirchschläger, Published on 18/08/2025
» Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI's Sam Altman have been aggressively promoting the idea that everyone -- children included -- should form relationships with AI "friends" or "companions". Meanwhile, multinational tech companies are pushing the concept of "AI agents" designed to assist us in our personal and professional lives, handle routine tasks, and guide decision-making.
The scramble for the world's critical minerals
Oped, Rabah Arezki & Rick van der Ploeg, Published on 07/08/2025
» The world's superpowers have developed a seemingly insatiable appetite for the critical minerals that are essential to the ongoing energy and digital transitions, including rare-earth metals (for semiconductors), cobalt (for batteries), and uranium (for nuclear reactors). The International Energy Agency forecasts that demand for these minerals will more than quadruple by 2040 for use in clean-energy technologies alone. But, in their race to control these vital resources, China, Europe, and the United States risk causing serious harm to the countries that possess them.
US hard power must get harder
Oped, Todd G. Buchholz & Michael Mindlin, Published on 05/06/2025
» In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford gets his biggest laugh when a desert assassin twirls a scimitar with menacing bravado. Following this brief performance, Ford's character cracks a wry smile, takes out his pistol, and shoots the man dead. In a potential contest with China, the United States looks more like the medieval assassin, deploying young sailors and soldiers equipped with perilously outdated, vulnerable technology.
Be wary of the TikTokalypse on the radar
Oped, Todd G Buchholz, Published on 31/01/2025
» When the United States president, Congress and Supreme Court are all in a tizzy at the same time, the topic under discussion is usually a global meltdown or, at the very least, income taxes. Today, the concern is dancing cat videos. In his first day back in the White House, Donald Trump launched a strike against the Court and Congress by signing an executive order to pause the ban on TikTok, earning applause from the Chinese-owned company. TikTok's online content creators are relieved, too, for many warn that a ban (or a forced sale to a US company) would devastate them. I call it the TikTokalypse.
Prosperity needs a healthy planet
News, Axel van Trotsenburg, Published on 30/10/2024
» Progress on poverty reduction has slowed almost to a standstill in recent years. With nearly 700 million people still living on less than US$2.15 (73 baht) per day, the world is far from the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. At the current pace, it will take at least three decades to reach this target and more than a century to lift everyone above the poverty line of $6.85 per day used for upper-middle-income countries. Today, 44% of the global population falls below this threshold.
Progress lies beyond pre-coup order
News, Laetitia van den Assum and Kobsak Chutikul, Published on 07/10/2024
» From Tuesday until Friday, Laos will host a summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders. The event will also bring Asean partners from around the world to the capital Vientiane. Its agenda will be weighed down by complex and potentially divisive issues. One of them is the situation in Myanmar, which has been on the agenda since April 2021.
Countries that are in step must trade together
Oped, Todd G. Buchholz, Published on 14/09/2024
» Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agree on little except a disdain for free trade. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, Mr Trump has threatened a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports, while Ms Harris, whose policy positions remain murky, has indicated that she would follow in President Joe Biden's footsteps with "targeted and strategic tariffs". American politicians' free-trade enthusiasm of the 1980s and 1990s has vanished, and this scares other countries, which know that the United States -- despite its wobbles and foibles -- remains the world's most attractive trading partner.
Beware of Big Tech steering AI rules
Oped, Peter G. Kirchschläger, Published on 04/09/2024
» Last October, the European Commission adopted a new roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime, one of the most serious security threats facing the bloc. For obvious reasons, European Union policymakers did not invite cartel members to help design and develop this strategy; asking for input from criminal networks would have only made it easier for them to continue operating with impunity.