By Elizabeth Sherman | – Arizona Sen. John McCain – scion of Navy brass, flyboy turned Vietnam war hero and tireless defender of American global leadership – has died after a year of treatment for terminal brain cancer. “With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he […]
Turkey’s big Problem isn’t Collapsing Currency, but Lack of Democracy under Erdogan
By Gary M. Grossman | – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is presiding over the damaging loss of value of the Turkish currency, the lira, against foreign currencies. It’s the most severe economic crisis the country has faced since he assumed power. Erdoğan has been the dominant figure in Turkish politics for almost two decades. […]
America, and the World, Cannot Afford Trump’s Dirty Coal Plan
By Daniel Fiorino | – Is climate change a problem? Consider the evidence: wildfires in California, Sweden and Siberia; flooding in coastal areas due to sea level rise; droughts in some places and extreme weather and rainfall in others; new and emerging patterns of disease; heat waves; and much more. Yet, looking at the policy […]
Making America Hated Again: Trump’s Mideast Policy of Strongmen and War
By David Mednicoff | – Donald Trump has shown little interest in encouraging democratic politics and human rights in other countries. This departure from decades of American foreign policy rhetoric has received comparatively little attention. However, in the Middle East, my area of expertise, I believe this Trump policy shift helps make countries less open […]
Turkey’s Economy has been Gliding for 16 Years but is it about to Crash?
By Can Erbil and Umit Ozlale | – If you happen to be a tourist in Turkey right now, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, things look grim. The Turkish lira has lost as much as a third of its value relative to the U.S. dollar in less than a month and recently hit a record low. […]
Turkey’s Homemade Currency Crisis Could Roil Global Finance
By Clemens Hoffmann and Can Cemgil | – Stirling (The Conversation) – Turkey’s recently reelected president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is blaming the sudden and dramatic decline of the Turkish lira on an international conspiracy, variously railing against an “economic war” and a “currency plot”. On the surface, this looks like a reaction to US president […]
Saudi Women can Finally Drive, But are their Voices Being Heard?
By Nermin Allam | – Earlier this summer, Saudi Arabia lifted the decades-long ban on women’s driving. The move is part of a series of reforms that the country has been implementing. In April the kingdom loosened male guardianship laws – under which women need the permission of a male guardian to work, travel or […]
What Jared Kushner’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Would Mean for Palestinian Refugees
By Anne Irfan | – – Leaked emails from Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and appointed steward of the Israel-Palestine conflict, are shedding light on his planned “deal of the century” for peace in the Middle East. In extracts published by Foreign Policy magazine, Kushner proposes “disrupting” the work of the UN Relief and Works […]
How Trump’s Trade War Hurts Working-Class Americans
By Jeffrey Kucik | – President Donald Trump justifies tariffs on imports by arguing that “unfair trade policies” have harmed American workers. This has led to a trade war in which the U.S. and China have placed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products. Most recently, China said it’s ready to slap tariffs on US$60 billion […]