Showing 1 - 10 of 93
Modern-day mispricing of war
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 09/04/2026
» In the space of just a few weeks, the throttling of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has revealed the true nature of the US-Israeli war with Iran. This is no regional conflict, because the entire world is being invoiced. While the size of the bill remains to be determined, it is already obvious that the belligerents won't be the only ones paying the tab.
Can alliances with the US be replaced?
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 07/04/2026
» The increasingly loud debate over the future of alliances -- after reports that the US could scale back or even withdraw from Nato -- is nerve-racking. It has caused alarm across Europe and in Southeast Asia, another node of the US alliance network. Even without any official decision, remarks by US President Donald Trump on social media were enough to shake already fragile US alliances. The question now frequently asked by Thai policymakers is: What comes next if alliances weaken?
A view of global power with a gangster's eye
Oped, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 20/01/2026
» There is a method behind the apparent madness of US President Donald Trump's transactional, spheres-of-influence approach to geopolitics and the global economy. Nowhere has this logic been clearer than in his administration's illegal abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and its ongoing efforts to secure control of the country's oil reserves by installing a client regime.
It's the economic history, stupid
Oped, Iker Saitua, Published on 14/01/2026
» Every year, I walk into a first-year lecture hall in Bilbao at the University of the Basque Country (EHU) and watch shoulders slump. The title of the course I'm teaching -- "Economic History" -- draws a similarly dejected reaction from my students: "Meh." "Boooring." "What's this even for?" Some call it "the history class", as if it belonged to another century.
Nuanced Thai smiles
Oped, Postbag, Published on 09/01/2026
» Re: " 'Mai pen rai' paradox: from kindness to toxic silence", (Life, Jan 7). This is an excellent article, but alas goes down a rabbit hole, akin to mitigating daily road fatalities and addressing other issues often lamented in this column that we're acquainted with.
How world order looks after 2025
Oped, Yuen Yuen Ang, Published on 05/01/2026
» For mathematicians, 2025 may stand out as a "perfect square": 45 multiplied by 45, a rare symmetry. But its significance goes far beyond numerical elegance -- it marks the year the postwar global order expired and a new one began.
Brazil's bold industrial turn is a gamble
Oped, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 25/12/2025
» For many in the developing world, Brazil is a rare beacon of hope in an otherwise bleak global landscape. Along with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is among the few world leaders who have stood up to US President Donald Trump with dignity and a measure of success.
Trump's doubling of tariffs is hitting India hard
Oped, Shashi Tharoor, Published on 05/12/2025
» US President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on a wide range of Indian goods, from a steep 25% to a catastrophic 50%, is reshaping India's export economy. Half of what India sells to the United States -- its largest trading partner -- is now prohibitively expensive, and ordinary Indians are suffering as a result.
AI as Asia's new growth engine?
Oped, Lee Jong-wha, Published on 27/11/2025
» Two decades after globalisation fuelled a global economic boom, growth has shifted onto a more subdued path, where it is likely to remain for the foreseeable future. Beyond the immediate shock of fragmenting trade and investment ties -- a result of rising geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and China -- lie structural headwinds, including population ageing, stagnant productivity, and the growing costs of inequality and natural disaster. These challenges strike at the heart of Asia's growth model.
What to learn from enforced errors of the past
Oped, Jacques Attali, Published on 28/10/2025
» Every generation believes it is living in an unprecedented era with unique challenges. But time and again, the same patterns and motivations have weakened and even destroyed civilisations, or strengthened them and enabled them to flourish. To learn from the past requires recognising its symmetries and resonances.