In The News

Africa’s Jihadists, On Their Way

August 1, 2014
The most extreme ideologies tap into widespread frustrations and flourish in nations and communities that fail their people with poor education and governance. The Economist interviews youths who live in Chad, a country rich in oil but inept in distributing benefits to its citizens: “Most would rather have jobs than become religious marauders, but given the chance they may be tempted to join a...

A Humanitarian Catastrophe Unfolds in Gaza

Julia Amalia Heyer July 31, 2014
The median age in the Gaza Strip is 15, notes the US Central Intelligence Agency, so more than half of Gaza’s 1.8 million people are children. More than 100,000 people have lost homes, and most struggle to escape food shortages and the constant exchange of fire between Hamas and Israel. Israelis are weary of Hamas, its rockets and refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Yet a stream of...

Personal Privacy Is Only One of the Costs of NSA Surveillance

Kim Zitter July 30, 2014
Politicians in the United States have not considered the economic ramifications of intrusive National Security Agency surveillance, bulk collection of data stored for future examination and a cavalier attitude that security fears trump privacy protections. Exposure of the surveillance capabilities have “had a profound impact on the economy, the security of the internet and the credibility of the...

Hindi-Nippon Bhai Bhai?

Harsh V. Pant July 29, 2014
Boosted by the long-time camaraderie of prime ministers Shinzo Abe and newly elected Narendra Modi, Japan and India are forging ties in many areas, giving rise to new regional dynamics across Asia. “Both leaders are emblematic of a new, ambitious and nationalistic Asian landscape,” explains Harsh V. Pant of Kings College. “They have decisive mandates to reshape the economic and strategic future...

Dempsey: US Military Dusting Off Decades-Old “Readiness” Plans for Russia

Lee Ferran July 25, 2014
Tensions are running high between the United States and Russia over the latter’s intervention in Ukraine, lending support to a separatist movement that likely destroyed a passenger jet. Europe is not joining the United States in sanctions on Russia, and Russia is trying to build a solid wall resisting European and NATO influence around its borders and even former Soviet satellite states. But...

Global Casualty of an Escalating Local War

David R. Cameron July 24, 2014
Malaysian Flight 17 was presumably mistaken for a military plane and shot down by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border. The blatant disrespect for the dead – images of pro-Russian separatists picking through the wreckage and passenger belongings, drunkenly and belligerently barring international investigators from the scene – have shocked the world. Tragically, “...

Climate Refugee Threat in Tropics Rises, International Action Lags

Roxane Horton July 23, 2014
There is no easy way to put it – the tropics can expect an apocalyptic future not of their making. Severe storms, droughts and rising seas will pose water and food shortages, unrest, conflicts over territory. More desperate refugees are anticipated from a region where more than two thirds of the world’s poor live. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees dismisses massive international migrations...