In The News

Foreign Affairs: Historic Breakthrough or Historic Blunder

Daniel R. Russel June 14, 2018
Post-summit consensus is that the US president was naïve, too trusting of a brutal dictator seeking attention for developing nuclear weapons. Trump, who withdrew from a detailed deal with Iran, signed a vague agreement with North Korea extracting a promise “to work toward complete denuclearization” – the terms weaker than what were offered to previous presidents before subsequently being broken....

Al Jazeera: Jordan Crisis – Gulf States Rush to Step In

Ali Younes June 14, 2018
Large protests have erupted in Jordan as a result of a new income tax law, leading to fears of expanding unrest in the Middle East. King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia hosted a regional summit on Jordan’s economic crisis and a $700 million budget deficit with the aim of providing financial assistance. The Gulf Cooperation Council seeks to prevent the protests from spreading similar to the Arab...

The New York Times: Pope Tells Oil Executives to Act on Climate

Elisabetta Povoledo June 13, 2018
Three years after his urgent letter warning of the dangers of rapid climate change created by humans, Pope Francis has taken additional action by addressing the leaders of the world’s biggest oil companies. Oil and gas company efforts have been lackluster in transitioning away from limited fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, and the risks to the environment – including pollution, flooding,...

NPR: Net Neutrality Rolled Back – But Not Dead Yet

Laurel Wamsley June 12, 2018
The US Federal Communications Commission has rolled back net-neutrality rules but telecommunications companies may be slow to charge more for popular sites or slow down smaller sites that cannot pay new charges: “The net neutrality rules were approved in 2015,” explains Laurel Wamsley. “Companies couldn't pay service providers like Verizon or AT&T extra to make their site or app load...

The Diplomat: Will Trump Cement the China-Russia Alliance?

Dai Weilai June 12, 2018
Trade encourages peaceful and broad-based relationships, and a US trade war targeting China could improve Chinese-Russian relations. The United States has imposed 25 percent tariffs on a variety of Chinese goods, and China has promised retaliation. The United States also challenges China on Taiwan and the South China Sea while imposing economic sanctions on Russia and criticizing its military...

Bloomberg: Why East Germans Invest and Vote Differently

Leonid Bershidsky June 12, 2018
Political ideologies wield cultural influence long after communities move on to new systems. Separate research studies suggest that people of East German demonstrate cautious investing patterns, with preference for former state companies, as well as those associated with Russia and China rather than the United States. “The eastern ‘investing identity’ is more pronounced in communities that were...

Financial Times: US Relations With Allies at New Lows

Chris Giles June 11, 2018
Trade tensions made for an acrimonious G7 summit, reports Chris Giles for the Financial Times: “The west was in disarray after Donald Trump left the summit early, instructed his officials to tear up the bland G7 statement, threatened to impose more tariffs and called the Canadian prime minister ‘very dishonest and weak.’” Trump administration officials became defensive after G7 host and Canadian...