In The News

Elections Gains Unlikely to Shift Iran Power Balance Fast

Samia Nakhoul March 2, 2016
Candidates in Iran must win approval from the nation’s council of clerics that reports to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani, deemed least conservative, was reelected with a high turnout. His conservative rivals oppose the country’s recent agreement to end its nuclear-weapons program and steps toward improving relations with the West. “Rouhani may have a stronger...

Inside Facebook’s Ambitious Plan to Connect the Whole World

Jessi Hempel March 2, 2016
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, views the internet as an essential service. He “believes peer-to-peer communications will be responsible for redistributing global power, making it possible for any individual to access and share information,” writes Jessi Hempel for Wired. “People could tap into government services, determine crop prices, get health care. A kid in India … could...

Worldview: The Myth of the Strongman

Trudy Rubin March 1, 2016
Newspapers throughout the United States are imploring voters to think twice before casting a vote for real estate mogul and reality-TV star Donald Trump. Many voters are distraught over stagnation, the lack of fulfilling jobs and opportunities. Many hope a forceful personality can deliver change. “We've entered an era in which strongmen are in vogue and democracy is taking a hit worldwide,”...

Russia: Only Tactical Success in the Middle East

Thomas Graham March 1, 2016
Despite an economic downturn and depressed oil prices, Russia wrested control in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking a gamble “that Europe would eventually seize an offer of cooperation in Syria to constrict the migrant flow and contain the terrorist threat and that such cooperation would sap Europe’s aversion to Russian behavior in Ukraine, leading to a decision...

Free Trade Under Threat

Nayan Chanda February 29, 2016
Anxiety is spreading in the world’s wealthiest nations about unemployment, inequality and economic uncertainty due to outsourcing, global supply chains and big trade agreements. The wages of ordinary workers stagnate while corporate earnings soar. Sizable blocs of voters angrily resist trade agreements, immigration and protections for refugees. “The US presidential elections in November promise...

The War of Western Failures: Hopes for Syria Fall with Aleppo

February 29, 2016
Russian strikes in Syria’s civil war support the government against Sunni majority rebels with bombs targeting civilian population centers, schools and hospitals. “Once upon a time Aleppo was the largest city in Syria, an economic powerhouse with a city center listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site,” notes Spiegel Online. The city lacks adequate supplies in food, fuel, medical aid and water. “In...

Turkey: The Eastern Question Is Back

Jonathan Marcus February 26, 2016
The Middle East and Europe have a long history of shifting boundaries and periods of destabilization. Europe viewed Turkey as a bulwark against Russian influence, explains Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for BBC News. He points to the Crimean War of the 1850s, with France and Great Britain battling Russian influence in Turkey: “Times change - but geography doesn't, and strategic...