In The News

Reuters: APEC and US-China Acrimony

Tom Westbrook and Charlotte Greenfield November 19, 2018
The 21 members attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit failed to produce a final statement on future areas of cooperation. China and the United States, APEC’s two largest economies, continue to escalate trade battles and compete over security investments in countries like Papua New Guinea, the summit’s host nation. “Rather than cooperation, the theme seemed to be conflict and...

The Economist: Oman Welcomes Netanyahu

November 19, 2018
As exemplified by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to the Arab Gulf, the relationship between Israel and Gulf states has undergone a distinct improvement in recent years. Netanyahu’s Gulf visit marks the first by an Israeli prime minister in more than 20 years. The Economist reports that responses to photographs of Netanyahu’s reception by Sultan Qaboos of Oman in Muscat, and of...

New Statesman: Revenge of the Nation State

John Bew November 15, 2018
The death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi reveals that the international community has little control over rogue states that resist criticism by any means necessary. Khashoggi had criticized Saudi Arabia’s horrific and wasteful war in Yemen, and his murder “conforms to a general pattern of degeneration in 21st century international relations, in which respect for human rights is eroding,...

New Republic: Why Brazilians Elected Bolsonaro

Andre Pagliarini November 15, 2018
Brazilians, in electing Jair Bolsonaro as president, yearn for order and economic prosperity. The military is the country’s most trusted public institution. But Bolsonaro has dismissed human rights and opposed limits on Brazilian police to rely on firepower. He had a troubled record in the military under civilian rule and praised the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985...

New York Times: Nationalism Reshapes Europe

Peter Baker and Alissa J. Rubin November 13, 2018
World leaders gathered to commemorate World War I’s end a century ago, and “a ceremony meant to celebrate the ties that bind the world today in effect showcased the divisions that are pulling it apart,” explain Peter Baker and Alissa Rubin for the New York Times. The global order and US alliances are under strain, even as the world’s most pressing problems require global cooperation. “Patriotism...

Financial Times: World Fears “Trumpism” Is Here to Stay

Gideon Rachman November 6, 2018
Global observers view the outcome of US midterm elections as a test of the durability of Donald Trump’s policies. “If the Republicans do well, then many will conclude that ‘Trumpism’ is here to stay,” explains Gideon Rachman for the Financial Times. “The rest of the world would have to make a long-term adjustment to an America that is highly protectionist and suspicious of treaties on principle...

Sunday Express: US Midterms and Foreign Policy

November 5, 2018
The world awaits the outcome of the US mid-term elections, which will decide all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 seats in the Senate. If Democrats win either chamber, the president’s policies will face new scrutiny: A “Democratic majority's greatest influence will be oversight, the ability to call hearings and, if necessary, subpoena witnesses, as they chair committees like...