In The News

Longtime Rivals Look to Team Up to Confront ISIS

Tim Arango September 11, 2014
Longtime adversaries – the United States and Iran, Kurds and Turks – are teaming up to defeat the self-declared Islamic State. Iraqis who once insisted on complete US withdrawal from Iraq now plead for swift intervention. Not one nation recognizes IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL, as a state, but the brutal group has a formidable military, attracts extremists from around the globe, and controls...

Obama's Legal Rationale for ISIS Strikes

Spencer Ackerman September 11, 2014
With a new Iraqi government in place, urging the United States to intervene against the Islamic State, and wide public support at home, US President Barack Obama announced plans to wage air strikes into Syrian territory against the terrorist group. He will not wait for congressional approval other than the $500 million in funding, instead rely on the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force “...

The Silence of the BRICS

Jaswant Singh September 5, 2014
Peace eludes the world, and moral authority is lacking. “For many, this global rudderlessness recalls Europe’s sleepwalk into catastrophe 100 years ago,” writes Jaswant Singh, former foreign minister of India for Project Syndicate. His essay reflects deep worry that a reckless accident or attack by just one person, combined with global tensions and nations’ refusal to accept borders, could...

Ukraine Accuses Russia of Invasion, West to Consider Sanctions

Gregory L. White and Colleen McCain Nelson August 30, 2014
Russia is sending troops and equipment to aid separatists in eastern Ukraine. Whether called incursion or invasion, the move widens the divide between Russia and the West. Tactics and terms used by Russians, including President Vladimir Putin, suggest the goal may be establish a corridor with Crimea, annexed by Russia in March. “Russia's latest moves suggested that the sanctions so far weren...

Turkey Struggles as “Lone Gatekeeper” Against Islamic State Recruitment

Nick Tattersall and Mariam Karouny August 27, 2014
Thousands of foreign fighters from Turkey, Europe and the United States have crossed the Turkish border with Syria, eager to join the brutal Islamic State group. Early in the Syrian uprising, Turkey maintained an open border to allow safe passage for refugees and support for moderate Syrian rebels. “That policy now appears to have been a miscalculation and has drawn accusations, strongly denied...

Arab Nations Strike in Libya, Surprising US

David D. Kirkpatrick and Eric Schmittaug August 26, 2014
Without asking or waiting for US approval, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates targeted airstrikes against Islamist militias in Libya, reports the New York Times. During the 2011 Arab Spring protests, powerful autocrats, tending to regard any political opposition to their rule as extreme, had warned that extremists could hijack the democracy movements. Elections in Libya have since led to bitter...

Globalization’s Worst Crisis

Nayan Chanda August 25, 2014
Sanctions and counter-sanctions in response to Russian intervention in Ukraine will disrupt global trade. Russia is the world’s eighth largest economy. Industries will find stunted growth and respond with new patterns as retail outlets in Russia cope with empty shelves, European airlines mull closure of air space over Russia, agriculture producers confront stockpiles, and energy buyers will...