Why global warming does not necessarily result in warmer winters
The Economist ON FEBRUARY 26th James Inhofe, a senator from Oklahoma, threw a snowball at another senator inside America’s upper chamber. He did it to back up his contention that man-made climate change is not the threat President Barack Obama (and many others) say it is. Mr Inhofe is chairman of th…
The DNA of German Foreign Policy
Frank-Walter Steinmeier The harsh reality of the past year has created unprecedented challenges for Germany and its foreign policy. The crisis in Ukraine spiraled out of control, with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, followed by military escalation in the eastern Donbas region, calling into question t…
The Super Smart Way to Dismantle ISIS
Eli Berman, Joseph H. Felter, Jacob H. Shapiro Every week, the Islamic State (IS) makes further headlines with its ruthless behavior. Beheadings, mass executions, burnings and extreme acts of brutality are the methods of a terrorist campaign intended to cow opponents and rally potential fighters. At…
Earth Calling the Financial Sector
Jeffrey D. Sachs and Hendrik J. du Toit Financial markets serve two crucial purposes: to channel savings toward productive investments, and to enable individuals and businesses to manage risks through diversification and insurance. As a result, the sector is essential to sustainable development, whi…
With Cease-Fire, Ukraine Remains Stuck Between Russia and the West
Nikolas Gvosdev This past week, I had the opportunity to attend a roundtable in New York sponsored by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development on the question of whether the West and Russia have entered into a new Cold War. My sense of pessimism that it now seems impossible…
Singapore and the Asian Century
Gabriele Giovannini and Emanuele Schibotto When, on August 9, 1965, Singapore became a sovereign state following its expulsion from the Malaysian Federation it was, without any doubt, a poor country. Yet only four decades later, the former British colony boasted the second most competitive economy i…
The 4 Major Geopolitical Challenges Investors Must Face
Ian Bremmer In early September, with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization reeling from a Russian land grab just outside the alliance’s borders , President Barack Obama traveled to NATO member Estonia to deliver a message to the unnerved Baltic states. “We have a solemn duty to each other,” Obama t…
Note from Berlin: Lessons from Munich
Josef Janning The 2015 Munich Security Conference has focused like a burning glass on the dilemmas of Western crisis management in international security. While the desire to maintain a united position on the war in Ukraine was apparent, divisions over strategy and tactics run deep within Europe and…
Financing the Fight Against Climate Change
Anne Paugam Climate change is already wreaking havoc throughout the developing world. Vietnam, for example, has reported that natural disasters, some of them exacerbated by climate change, have caused annual losses equivalent to 2% of its GDP. In agriculture-dependent countries like Ethiopia, longer…
Frontiers New and Old: Russia’s Policy in Central Asia
Institut français des relations internationales For much of the post-Soviet period, Central Asia has been a backwater of Russian foreign policy. But things are changing. Circumstances in and beyond the region are driving a more committed approach in Moscow. Central Asia is critical to Putin’s aim of…