In The News

Iranian-Saudi Tensions Have Little to Do With Religion

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam January 8, 2016
Saudi Arabia miscalculated on how global observers might react to its execution of Shia cleric Sheikh al-Nimr. Reflecting poor judgment and insecurity, the execution “demonstrates that the kingdom has lost its cool,” writes Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, a philosophy professor at the University of London. He suggests the notion that the Sunni-Shia divide in Islam spurs conflict is “analytically flawed.”...

Bringing US Presidential Debates to a Chinese Audience

Owen Guo January 6, 2016
The world’s second largest economy is understandably fascinated with the politics and foreign policy of the largest. A high school student in Beijing, Zhou Qianyu, organized the Guojiang Subtitle Group – 70 volunteers across China work as teams to translate and post subtitles for online videos of the US presidential debates. Chinese interest in the debates leading to the November election is...

Middle East Tensions Boil as Saudi Arabia Cuts Ties With Iran

Sam Wilkin January 4, 2016
Iran and Saudi Arabia are rivals for influence in the Middle East. The latest clash is driving up oil prices, deepening a sectarian divide and sparking new violence in the region, reports Sam Wilkin for Reuters: “Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on Sunday and fellow-Sunni Bahrain followed suit on Monday, two days after Iranian demonstrators stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest at Riyadh...

In Fighting the Islamic State, Obama Is a Tortoise and the GOP is Harebrained

David Ignatius December 18, 2015
Combative rhetoric in free elections challenges a united national foreign policy. More than 15 candidates in the US presidential race, to be decided in November 2016, compete by siding with President Barack Obama or criticizing his policies. After serving two terms, Obama cannot run for reelection. The current point of contention: how to address religious extremism. Obama takes a deliberative...

How Fear Won the GOP Debate

Michael Grunwald December 16, 2015
Republican US presidential candidates insist they are ready to attack Islamic State extremists with full force. Some suggest banning refugees, and others go suggest a broader ban on Muslims, extreme measures considering the world has more than a billion Muslims and the CIA estimates that the Islamic State extremists total no more than 50,000. Moderators of the fifth debate bear blame for avoiding...

Why Le Pen Just Lost Her Best Chance to Win French Election

Gregory Viscusi December 14, 2015
An anti-immigrant, anti-EU party did not fare well in France’s regional elections – despite predictions that coordinated terrorist attacks on Paris could swell support for the National Front, explains reports Gregory Viscus for BloombergBusiness. Candidates in the regional races must win 10 percent in the first round of voting to proceed to the second round. For the second round, though two other...

Coalition of the Unwilling: Merkel's Plan B Could Mean End of Schengen

Peter Müller, Ralf Neukirch and Andreas Ulrich December 11, 2015
European leaders are meeting behind closed doors to tighten the continent’s external borders and stem the flow of refugees from areas of conflict in the Middle East. Spiegel Online reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to finalize a deal that includes Turkey: “Essentially, it calls for Europe to provide billions in aid to Turkey in exchange for Ankara doing all it can to prevent...