In The News

Double Jeopardy: Russia Strives to Reintegrate With the West

Ashkhen Kazaryan November 24, 2015
Russians want to be responsible members of the global community and seek reintegration, yet they also fervently support their government's aggressive foreign policy. “As the leaders in the West contemplate joining Russia in a strategy to defeat the Islamic State, the world needs to understand the deeper reasons for Russian behavior as much as Russia needs to modify its strategies and...

ISIS Wives and Enforcers in Syria Recount Collaboration, Anguish and Escape

Azadeh Moaveni November 24, 2015
When terrorists storm a town and take control, some occupants resist, others collaborate, and most inevitably try to flee. Three young women describe life in Raqqa – a Syrian city of 220,000 – under the control of the Islamic State since early 2014. The three once wore casual clothes, worked or attended school, dated as they pleased and led independent lives, reports Azadeh Moaveni for the New...

Filipina Entrepreneur Shines at APEC

Doris Dumlao-Abadilla November 23, 2015
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation regional group supports sustainable growth and prosperity among its 21 member states, both developed and emerging economies through trade, investment, sustainability and innovation. One individual may exemplify such goals. “A Filipina who co-founded Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALT), a company that makes innovative lamps powered by saltwater, was thrust...

The World's Multi-Trillion Dollar Bond Market Is Circling the Drain

Ben Wright November 23, 2015
The world is awash in debt, more than $225 trillion in all by some reports. Warning bells are going off about a lack of liquidity in bond markets amid anticipation for the US Federal Reserve to begin gradually lifting interest rates. Prices of bonds already in the market will fall as interest rates rise because investors will pursue the new bonds with higher yields. Stimulus spending by...

Gunmen Attack Luxury Hotel in Mali Capital

Kevin Sieff, Sarah Kaplan and Brian Murphy November 21, 2015
Attackers stormed a luxury Radisson Hotel in Bamako with reports suggesting 170 hostages taken. The Washington Post reports no immediate claims of responsibility or motivation, but extremists vie for attention with attacks on soft targets. “Mali – home to the famous ancient city of Timbuktu – has been at the center of a French-backed effort to drive back Islamist rebels that once had control over...

There Is Only One Way to Defeat ISIS

Charles P. Pierce November 20, 2015
High-cost military equipment like fighter jets or missile defense shields won’t stop coordinated terrorist attacks like those in Paris against youth enjoying city life on a Friday night. Intrusive surveillance won’t prevent brothers, roommates or loners contemplating suicide and plotting murder, argues Charles Pierce for Esquire: “Abandoning the Enlightenment values that produced democracy will...

Air War May Be Satisfying, But Won’t Defeat ISIS

Mohammed Ayoob November 19, 2015
Air strikes pounding strips of territory in Iraq and Syria controlled by the Islamic State won’t destroy the ideology and can inflict civilian casualties. Analysts concur that ground troops are needed to deliver precise attacks. Public opinion in the United States and the European Union won’t permit use of their ground troops, and such force would only reinforce extremist claims about the West...