In The News

Trump’s "Withdrawal" From WHO: Just Security

Harold Hongju Koh June 1, 2020
Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, another treaty arrangement, in the midst of a pandemic. The Trump administration may be trying to deflect attention from a disastrous pandemic response, yet Harold Koh of Yale Law School focuses on legal issues: Trump, lacking legal authority, did not actually withdraw the US from WHO, and...

US to Cut Ties with WHO: STAT

Andrew Joseph May 29, 2020
The US president announced that the country will halt funding and withdraw from the World Health Organization. The US is the agency’s largest funder, providing about 15 percent of the budget. “The move has alarmed health experts, who say the decision will undermine efforts to improve the health of people around the world,” writes Andrew Joseph for STAT. “It’s not immediately clear whether the...

Covid-19 and Green Recovery? Euronews

Darren McCaffrey May 27, 2020
Economic shutdowns due to Covid-19 demonstrate a quieter world with cleaner air, wiht carbon emissions reduced by more than 8 percent between January and April from the same period in 2019. “This is massively significant: 8 per cent is roughly half of what America emits in an entire year and would be the biggest drop since the Second World War,” writes Darren McCaffrey for Euronews. For the world...

Future of Global Power: Project Syndicate

Joschka Fischer May 26, 2020
The world wars of the 20th century weakened the British Empire and strengthened the United States; the Cold War weakened the Soviet Union while again strengthening the United States. Yet Covid-19 could upend US power as the world assesses pandemic responses. The Trump administration, managing the pandemic response ahead of the November election, blames China for Covid-19. US voters, polarized...

Children and Covid-19: Wired

Gregory Barber May 26, 2020
With Covid-19’s emergence in 2019, researchers quickly noticed that the disease was especially lethal for older people and suggested that while children could carry the virus their symptoms were mild. Then reports emerged in Europe and the United States of children entering hospitals with fever, rashes, low blood pressure and disruptions to the immune system – a few weeks after having contracted...

Islamic Finance Confronts Pandemic: Global Finance

Chloe Domat May 24, 2020
The Islamic finance industry, operating in about 80 nations, has a large market share in microfinance, small enterprises and retail lending. The Covid-19 pandemic will hit the industry hard with governments closing stores and ordering social-distancing, along with many borrowers seeking forbearance, restructuring or new loans. Governments hurried to assist corporations, with less support for low-...

US to Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty: NYT

David E. Sanger May 23, 2020
US President Donald Trump will inform Russia that the United States will begin a six-month clock to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty – “negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other’s territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action,” reports David Sanger for the New York Times. Sanger expresses concern that the next...