• OPINION

  Blockchain test could change Russia

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 08/06/2017

  » Russian President Vladimir Putin and his economic team have long been under the impression that, to wean the country off its oil dependence, they needed a major leap in some specific area of technology that wasn't yet dominated by Western, Chinese or Japanese tech giants. Their latest hopes are being pegged to the Ethereum blockchain platform.

• OPINION

  Political correctness won't help sort out Uber's woes

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 16/06/2017

  » There's a disconnect between the way Uber, the ride-hailing company, is trying to transform itself and what it really needs to fix to become a sustainable business. Instead of reconsidering its business model and protecting itself against a regulatory backlash, it has decided to go politically correct.

• OPINION

  The mundane radicalism of terror

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 22/06/2017

  » The UK tabloids hesitated about what to call the white driver of a van who crashed into a crowd of worshippers at the Finsbury Park mosque in London on Monday. But Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted furiously that he was no less a terrorist than the perpetrators of recent Islamic State-inspired attacks.

• OPINION

  The new Saudi Arabian heir is a dangerous man

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 23/06/2017

  » The abrupt change in Saudi Arabia's line of royal succession will probably help maintain the House of Saud's sway over its 31 million people, 70% of whom are under 30. It is, however, a dangerous move in the context of a new Big Game unfolding in the Middle East, which involves the US, Russia and local players.

• OPINION

  Don't rush to judge in war crimes -- the truth will out

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 19/04/2017

  » Something is wrong with the standard of proof we're willing to accept for extremely serious accusations. There's a cost to credibility and a need to weigh available evidence calmly before approving or criticising potentially deadly government action.

• OPINION

  Brexit parade is in the EU's favour

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/05/2017

  » Leaked details of a dinner conversation between UK Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker suggest that the Brexit talks won't just be contentious -- they'll be brutal. At this point, the perception helps Ms May as much as it does the EU leaders. After the June election in the UK, however, Ms May will be at a disadvantage.

• OPINION

  The key to tackling North Korea is Vladimir Putin

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 19/05/2017

  » The idea of a grand bargain between the United States and Russia is less popular in Washington than ever before. And yet one of the biggest foreign policy problems for the US -- that of North Korea -- cannot be resolved without Russia's participation. In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made sure to rebuild a close relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and it's no longer enough to talk to China to mitigate the Stalinist state's aggressiveness.

• OPINION

  Happy nations don't only focus on economic growth

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 22/03/2017

  » The Socialist candidate for the French presidency, Benoit Hamon, says he doesn't believe in the "myth" and "quasi-religion" of growth -- it's part of the "consumerist, productivist and materialist model" of development, he argues.

• OPINION

  Some democracies resist populism

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/04/2017

  » Recent and upcoming political upheavals in a number of countries provide some evidence that the institutional design of democracies can be critically important. A clear advantage is emerging for countries that don't directly elect a president: They are more likely to resist the wave of populism sweeping the West.

• OPINION

  Facebook can't have it both ways

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 24/03/2017

  » Nearly everyone has criticism for German Justice Minister Heiko Maas's proposal to impose fines on social networks and their workers for failure to delete hateful content. Internet freedom advocates hate it for imposing censorship. The European Union is concerned for the same reason and the German union of judges and prosecutors criticise it for not going far enough because the posters of hate-speech themselves escape punishment.

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