Showing 1 - 10 of 30
Three shocks that shook us in 2025
Oped, Yanis Varoufakis, Published on 24/12/2025
» This was the year that the remaining pillars of the late-20th-century order were shattered, exposing the hollow core of what passed for a global system. Three blows sufficed.
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.
Flawed Asean needs to regain footing
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/10/2025
» Nearly six decades after its founding, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) finds itself back where it began -- divided, uncertain, and vulnerable to the influence of major powers. Once hailed as a model for regional cooperation in the developing world, Asean now faces a crisis of purpose. Unless it can rediscover the unity and collective way forward that defined its early decades, Southeast Asia's flagship institution risks slipping into irrelevance.
Why is North Korea courting Russian tourists?
Oped, Saahil Menon, Published on 13/08/2025
» Hoping to replenish state coffers with much-needed foreign exchange reserves and offset the sharp post-Covid decline in Chinese tour groups, the Hermit Kingdom has set its sights on inquisitive holiday-makers from an ideologically aligned Russia.
Porosity can reduce city flood effects
Oped, Nuntachart Ratanaburi, Published on 02/07/2025
» The rainy season, which officially began in May, combined with the La Niña effect, brings unusually heavy rains that leave several areas inundated. Worse, the climate change impact intensifies weather turbulences with intense, localised rainfall -- known as "rain bombs" or cloudbursts -- that may cause severe floods in areas with a poor drainage system.
PM's crisis and Thai political directions
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 27/06/2025
» What began just a month ago as a minor border dispute with Cambodia has spiralled into an existential political crisis in Thailand. In what she understood to be a private phone conversation with Cambodia's former prime minister and Senate President, Hun Sen, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra compromised her premiership and undermined Thai national interests. While she tries to ride out the storm, her tenure appears wobbly and unworkable. What comes next will likely proceed in one of three directions revolving around the Thai parliamentary processes, each with its own scenarios and considerations.
Tariff chaos could halt 80 years of economic progress
Oped, Anne O. Krueger, Published on 26/04/2025
» International trade and exploration have captivated the human imagination for millennia. From Alexander the Great to Marco Polo, from the Silk Road to the East India Company, history is filled with examples of commerce redrawing the map of the known world. But for much of history, trade was shaped more by power than by fairness.
Deadlock over Gaza war as crisis widens
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 03/11/2023
» War clouds are swirling in the Middle East as the region steps closer to the precipice. The Second Stage of Israel's military offensive against Hamas has now begun with all-out fighting in the Gaza Strip between the terrorists and the State of Israel. But beyond tiny Gaza it appears that regional destabilisation now seems a certainty.
How we can break free from polio
Oped, Andrew Stein, Published on 25/10/2023
» Eradicating polio has taken far longer than anyone expected. But the last 35 years of efforts to immunise every child against polio represent a major win for global health: a 99% reduction in cases means that nearly 20 million people are walking today who otherwise would have been paralysed.
North Korean missile test snubs dialogue
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 21/07/2023
» North Korea's unannounced launch of another ballistic missile early this week became a ho-hum event, given the rash but predictable actions by Pyongyang. After all, we have seen this bellicose stunt many times before and thus have become dangerously numb and nearly indifferent to its ultimate threat and consequence.