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Why Russia Invaded Ukraine

Russia has more arms and more soldiers. It is spending more than twice as much as Ukraine on the military. It has managed to survive the world’s economic sanctions. It has plenty of energy, compared with Ukraine, which is facing a very cold winter as a result of Russian attacks on critical energy infrastructure. And… Continue reading Why Russia Invaded Ukraine

When Do Autocrats Give Up?

In one country, the increasingly autocratic leader of 15 years has up and left after being forced out of power by a student-led opposition. In the other country, the increasingly autocratic leader of 11 years has refused to give up power in the face of protests after he rigged recent elections to give himself a… Continue reading When Do Autocrats Give Up?

Revenge of the Sovereignistas

They were all buddy-buddy for the cameras, going for a joy ride in a deluxe limo and toasting each other at a gala dinner. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was determined to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in grand style on his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years. A red carpet, flowers,… Continue reading Revenge of the Sovereignistas

Electoral Surprises

Cynics and conspiracy theorists believe that everything is planned behind the scenes. They think that an assassination, even if it seems to be the work of a crazed loner, is actually stage-managed by a cabal. An accidental fire is no accident. Nothing is ever a surprise. But there have been three major surprises related to… Continue reading Electoral Surprises

The Double Crisis of U.S. Foreign Policy

Approaching the consequential elections of 2024, the United States faces a stark debate over the role of the country in international affairs. The media has generally presented the two positions as the internationalism of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris versus the isolationism of Donald Trump. The current team in the White House touts the importance… Continue reading The Double Crisis of U.S. Foreign Policy

AI Might Kill Us All, But Not the Way You Think

The conventional Artificial Intelligence doomsday scenario runs like this. A robot acquires sentience and decides for some reason that it wants to rule the world. It hacks into computer systems to shut down everything from banking and hospitals to nuclear power. Or it takes over a factory to produce a million copies of itself to… Continue reading AI Might Kill Us All, But Not the Way You Think

What Do Voters Want?

The Right is resurgent! The Left is Back! The Center is on the march! It’s always tempting to declare, on the basis of a few elections, that a political tendency is on the ascendant. I should know: I’ve done it myself. But the only commonality in the most recent consequential elections—France, the UK, and Iran—is… Continue reading What Do Voters Want?

Putin and Kim: A New World Order?

The recent meeting of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in North Korea marks a new stage not only in their alliance but in their ideological convergence. This is no mere marriage of convenience. The two leaders have become so much closer in their political and economic sympathies over the last two decades that they… Continue reading Putin and Kim: A New World Order?

You Think Trump Is Bad?

Poland is supposed to be one of the politically sane places in Europe right now. The far-right Law and Justice Party lost national elections last year to a centrist coalition and exited power after eight long years of democratic repression. Donald Tusk, who’d previously been the president of the European Council, once again became the… Continue reading You Think Trump Is Bad?

The Global South’s Three Body Problem

Imagine you are a country in the Global South. You suffer from a heavy debt burden. You’ve been trying for decades to catch up to the richer countries, but unsuccessfully, in large part because of that debt hanging around your neck like a giant millstone. And you are spending more and more of your precious… Continue reading The Global South’s Three Body Problem