A series of grim economic numbers from China have given the world a glimpse of what might lie ahead, as countries embark on draconian coronavirus containment measures. The Chinese economy went into free fall over the first two months of the year, data released on Monday showed, with industry, retail and investment all shrinking for […]
At the urging of President Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s lower house of Parliament passed legislation Tuesday allowing him to run for a fifth term as president. Putin, who is 67 years old and was first elected in 2000, noted that the legislation would still have to be approved by Russia’s Constitutional Court and in a […]
Hailing “victory to Wuhan” and saluting its people as heroes, Chinese President Xi Jinping used his first trip to the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak to signal that China had turned the tide in its battle against the deadly disease. The much-anticipated visit – about three months after first cases were reported in the provincial […]
He has the same thing in common with Hillary as every other Democrat does: his party affiliation. To be sure, that is one thing that distinguishes him from Sanders and many of Sanders’ voters. Read Here – The National Interest
If there is any lesson to be learned from three decades of American interventions, it is that the politics of foreign lands are far too complicated for an outside superpower to intervene and not produce costly unintended consequences. Read Here – The National Interest
In the post-Mao era, the Chinese people and Communist Party leaders have adhered to an implicit social contract: the people tolerate the party’s political monopoly, as long as the party delivers economic progress and adequate governance. The party’s poor handling of the COVID-19 outbreak has threatened this tacit pact. Read Here – Project Syndicate
Putin’s single biggest achievement in two decades in power—his true legacy—has been to re-empower the state bureaucracy…No part of this bureaucratic apparatus matters more than the national security establishment—the vast, hydra-headed complex of military, intelligence, and law enforcement ministries. These institutions may well determine not only who becomes the next president of Russia but what […]
Nearly 70 polls had predicted that Israel’s March 2 election would produce something reminiscent of Bill Murray’s classic movie “Groundhog Day” — a seemingly endless time loop of political stalemate, dysfunction and yet another election following the previous two last April and September. Instead, the Israeli voting public gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu perhaps one of […]
The global coronavirus outbreak might accomplish something that myriad bad polls haven’t: make Republicans fear losing the 2020 presidential election. Until now, survey after survey has consistently shown President Trump losing to the Democrats in November. Like, to all of the Democrats. Yet Republicans have remained confident…But the plunging stock market, badly spooked by the unpredictable […]
US Senator Bernie Sanders’s repeated attacks on inequality show a commitment to democracy and to giving people a voice. In fact, he is a social democrat, and thus closer to his fellow senator, Elizabeth Warren, one of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, than their rhetorical differences might suggest. Read Here – Project Syndicate
looking beyond borders 