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...
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EU leaders are divided over how to handle the thousands of refugees streaming from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and trying to reach Europe. The reception in Europe can be hostile and disorganized. Some EU leaders hope to establish reception centers along Europe’s external borders to register...
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The nature of work is changing, not simply due to technology, but also a labor force willing to provide services and skills at low prices as well as consumers who demand low costs and fast service. Economists often point to Uber – a driving service that relies on the internet to match willing...
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The United Kingdom understands full well how empires tend to over-reach and shrink, and British historians – notably Yale’s Paul Kennedy, Harvard’s Niall Ferguson and Stanford’s Ian Morris – suggest that such patterns are playing out for the United States, explains Gideon Rachman for the Financial...
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The advanced world is divided about whether to pay ransoms to rescue citizens kidnapped by terrorists. Author and ethicist Peter Singer suggests that the Islamic State so far has beheaded hostages from the United States and United Kingdom, as well as many Syrian, Lebanese, and Kurdish soldiers,...
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Sanctions and counter-sanctions in response to Russian intervention in Ukraine will disrupt global trade. Russia is the world’s eighth largest economy. Industries will find stunted growth and respond with new patterns as retail outlets in Russia cope with empty shelves, European airlines mull...
Globalisation’s death has been announced many times. From the wrecked WTO summit in Seattle in 1999 to the global financial crisis in 2007, when the world trade seized up, the implacable march of globalisation has indeed slowed. But it has bounced...
China and Vietnam tussle over disputed waters in the South China Sea reached a new stage when backed by a flotilla of 80 vessels China moved a large drilling rig. Vietnam deployed 35 ships to block the Chinese rig leading to ramming and use of water cannon. The actions rattled stock markets in...
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Domestic workers and diplomats may be but pawns for nations struggling with their own internal quarrels and place in the world. The arrest of an Indian consulate officer in New York City for filing false information on a nanny’s wages triggered outrage in India. The immediate official reaction was...
The arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York for lying on a visa form and underpaying a household nanny comes at a time when the United States examines its own growing inequality. And India’s vehement defense has put a spotlight on cultural...