In The News

How the World Sees the US Protests: Guardian

Uki Goñi, Lily Kuo , Jason Burke, Tom Phillips, Sam Jones and Julian Borger June 8, 2020
The US presidential election is less than five months away, and the decision about who leads the world’s largest economy and military impacts the rest of the world. More than 10 straight days of US protests demonstrate a deep divide. Protests began after police killed a handcuffed black man, despite pleas from horrified witnesses videotaping the death – just one among many such videos in recent...

K-Pop Fans Use Internet for Black Lives Matter: Vox

Aja Romano June 8, 2020
The video of George Floyd, pleading for his life, handcuffed and his neck under a police officer’s knee, has moved the world to denounce unequal justice and police abuses. “Across the internet, supporters of Black Lives Matter are weaponizing tweets, posts, and hashtags to spread information, protect protesters, and derail racist rhetoric,” reports Aja Romano for Vox. Originating in South Korea...

Keep the US in WHO: Foreign Affairs

Harold Hongju Koh and Lawrence O. Gostin June 7, 2020
The United States represents about 25 percent of the world’s confirmed Covid-19 cases. US withdrawal from the World Health Organization, as proposed by the president based on false claims, would damage global health security and the rule of law. The US Congress can hold hearings and opponents can go to court, arguing the president lacks constitutional authority. Trump is correct that WHO should...

Anticipate Another Global Depression? FT

June 6, 2020
High employment rates accompany the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. Global economists assessed the possibility of economic depression for the Financial Time. Full recovery depends on availability of treatments and vaccines and maintenance of trust. Robert Zoellick, former World Bank president, reminds that the 1930s Great Depression caused more than economic pain: “It metastasised to a loss of...

US Rivals Return Fire on Human Rights: Reuters

Cate Cadell, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi June 4, 2020
More than a week of protests over the death of a handcuffed man in police custody bring global scrutiny of US policies and racial relations, and “nations stung by American criticism over the years return fire and accuse Washington of double standards,” reports Reuters. China and Iran, criticized for human rights abuses by the US secretary of state, spoke out against police treatment of George...

How We Broke the World: NYT

Thomas L. Friedman June 2, 2020
Global insecurity has intensified with the gradual dismantling of protections. “Over the past 20 years, we’ve been steadily removing man-made and natural buffers, redundancies, regulations and norms that provide resilience and protection when big systems – be they ecological, geopolitical or financial – get stressed,” explains Thomas Friedman for the New York Times. Obsession with short-term...

When America Goes AWOL: Times of India

Nayan Chanda June 1, 2020
The United States, reporting 33 percent of the world’s Covid-19 cases with 4 percent of the population, has stepped back from global leadership. A bungled pandemic response delivered a blow to US moral and intellectual standing. “After having cut off funding for WHO – a critical player in these times – Washington announced it would not join a global effort to find a vaccine for the virus,” writes...