In The News

New Statesman: Day in the Life of an Aid Worker Under the Blockade in Yemen

Johan Mooij November 29, 2017
Saudi Arabia, intervening in the Yemen civil war, has imposed a blockade with periodic openings to allow humanitarian aid. The war and the blockade adds to the challenges of delivering emergency relief, and New Statesman published the description of a typical day for Johan Mooij, the country director for CARE in Yemen. Basics like water, electricity, fuel, health services and food are in short...

Project Syndicate: America’s Supply-Side Scam

Stephen S. Roach November 28, 2017
A US tax proposal delivers big tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens. US companies already pay a low effective corporate tax rate. US corporations already rank high in competitiveness. Stephen S. Roach – author, senior lecturer at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia – argues the country cannot afford tax cuts that will expand the country’s large deficit. A low savings rate...

Caixin: Belt and Road Now Leads to Every Central, Eastern European Nation

Fran Wang November 28, 2017
China Belt and Road Initiative is expanding to reach all 16 nations of Central and Eastern Europe. New agreements being signed with Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania bring “the total number of foreign countries included in the Belt and Road program to 70,” reports Fran Wang for Caixin. “Chinese companies invested more than $9 billion in the 16 countries last year, triple the $3 billion recorded in...

Saudi Arabia Shifts Policy From Risk Averse to Downright Dangerous

Bruce Riedel November 28, 2017
Saudi Arabia as absolute monarchy and the United States as democratic republic are polar opposites in terms of political governance and culture. Yet the two nations have had close ties since 1943 when pragmatic leaders focused on shared security concerns. More than seven decades later, the relationship appears strong though less pragmatic. Each country, with internal divisions and long-term...

The Washington Post: In the Middle East, The Dream of Democracy Is Dead

Asli Aydıntaşbaş November 27, 2017
In 2010 a Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest harassment that limited his ability to earn a living. His action triggered region-wide populist uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa that became known as the Arab Spring. Fleeting hopes for radical reconstruction of state and society now seems dead, buried and even forgotten. Asli Aydıntaşbaş observes...

Spiegel Online: The End of the End of History

Klaus Brinkbäumer November 27, 2017
Political systems of the West may no longer be perceived as the most effective way to organize human societies, and Francis Fukuyama’s prediction that democracy and Western values would triumph after the fall of communism in 1989 now seems presumptuous: “in the past 11 years, freedom around the world has receded. Of 195 states only 87 are still free, 59 are partially free and 49 are not free at...

The Guardian: Israeli Military Chief Wants Closer Saudi Ties as Iran Tensions Rise

Peter Beaumont November 23, 2017
Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot affirmed his nation’s commitment to a regional US-backed axis against Iran during an interview with the Saudi newspaper Elaph. Eisenkot described Iran as the major threat for a region destabilized by extremism, autocracies, wars and lack of economic opportunities. According to Eisenkot, Israel could share intelligence with what he called “moderate” Arab states...