MOST RECENT COMMENTARIES
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Obama’s Middle East Malady
Zaki Laidi Series: The World in Words 2012-02-08No sooner did Barack Obama welcome home US troops from Iraq and laud that country’s stability and democracy than an unprecedented wave of violence revealed the severity of Iraq’s political crisis. Is that crisis an unfortunate exception, or, rather, a symptom of the failure of Obama’s Middle East diplomacy, from Egypt to Afghanistan?... read Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 2025
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When Women Lead
Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right 2012-02-08
Would the world be more peaceful if women were in charge? It is an interesting question, but the key choices about war and peace in our future will depend not on gender, but on how leaders – men and women alike – combine hard- and soft-power skills to produce smart strategies.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 4057
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China’s Syrian Folly
Steve Tsang Series: China World 2012-02-08In vetoing the UN Security Council’s draft resolution on Syria, China claims that it has acted in the interests of the Syrian people. In fact, the Chinese stance has effectively ensured that atrocities in Syria will continue and increase in intensity – and that China's soft power will diminish throughout the Middle East.... read Comments: 5 Recommended: 0 Read: 1922
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American Funk
Ian Buruma Series: Crossing Cultures 2012-02-07
Many American fearmongers would have us believe that the US is now in a dangerous state of funk – a loss of self-belief that signals the end of its world leadership. But they are wrong to claim that the decline of US military dominance will lead to the collapse of world order.... read Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 4049
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Tomorrow’s Pax Pacifica
Kevin Rudd Series: The Asian Century 2012-02-07Although the relationship between China and the United States is critical to Asia’s future, the concept of a "G-2" is never going to fly in the region. The task today is to recognize the realities of US and Chinese power, without turning the rest of the region into collateral damage should the Sino-American relationship deteriorate.... read Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 3789
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Capturing the ECB
Joseph E. Stiglitz Series: Unconventional Economic Wisdom 2012-02-06
There are several explanations for the ECB’s insistence on a "voluntary" restructuring of Greece's sovereign debt, none of which speaks well for the institution. Indeed, as we have seen elsewhere, institutions that are not democratically accountable tend to be captured by special interests.... read Comments: 2 Recommended: 1 Read: 17881
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Seizing Sustainable Development
Jacob Zuma and Tarja Halonen Series: The New Global Economy 2012-02-06The world is on an unsustainable path, and must urgently chart a new course forward, one that brings equity and environmental concerns into the economic mainstream. To do so, we must put sustainable development into practice now, not in spite of the economic crisis, but because of it.... read Comments: 7 Recommended: 0 Read: 4850
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A Strategy for Russia’s Snow Revolution
Mischa Gabowitsch Series: The World in Words 2012-02-05
So far, Russia's protesters have gotten much right: they have focused on a single demand – fair elections – and have united liberals, communists, nationalists, and otherwise apolitical citizens in a broad coalition. If their movement is to succeed, however, maintaining a commitment to non-violence is likely to be the key.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 4547
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Austerity under Attack
Daniel Gros Series: Euronomics 
2012-02-03As the European economy risks falling into recession, many observers are asking whether austerity could lead to such a sharp decline in economic activity that revenues fall and the fiscal position actually deteriorates further. But it would be dangerous for the eurozone’s highly indebted countries to abandon austerity now.... read Comments: 17 Recommended: 0 Read: 11988
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Havel Lives
Karel Schwarzenberg, Desmond Tutu and Richard von Weizsäcker Series: Human Rights 2012-02-03
PRAGUE – The death of Václav Havel, the former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, has been marked with mourning around the world. For his friends, the loss is overwhelming, but we all take comfort from the fact that his courage and his ideas helped to change our world for the better, and are still continuing to do so.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 4153
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The Decline of the West Revisited
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2012-02-02Since the publication in 1918 of Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, prophecies about the inexorable doom of what he called the “Faustian Civilization” have been a recurrent topic for thinkers and public intellectuals. But the debate's recurrence is itself proof that Spengler was wrong.... read Comments: 4 Recommended: 0 Read: 8896
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A Seismic Crime
Joel E. Cohen Series: Science and Society 2012-02-02
The devastating earthquake that hit L'Aquila, Italy in 2009 has sparked a court trial and lingering questions about scientific experts' failures to communicate risk to the public. Scientists around the world have rightly spoken out against the trial in Italy, but will we be ready when the next big earthquake strikes?... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 6848
| America’s Three Deficits | Laura Tyson 
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| Central Bankers in the Line of Fire | Luigi Zingales
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