OPINION

Bhutan has received international recognition for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public health front. While it was a difficult time for the nation, and social and economic repercussions are still being felt today, the health impacts were limited, with only 21 deaths to date despite over 60,000 …

Policymakers have enjoyed a free pass in discussions over what to do in response to the sexual harassment allegations taking down Hollywood producers, news media titans and actors. Because the worst of the transgressions already are illegal, lawmakers seem satisfied to call for culprits to be fired or to step …

BOSTON – Artificial intelligence is big business’s new flavor of the month. Companies are rushing to showcase how they will be using new generative AI models, and the media is full of stories about the technology’s transformative potential. There is no denying that it could significantly increase productivity. But who …

NEW DELHI – In recent years, soaring food prices and the growing frequency and intensity of floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events have prompted warnings of a looming grain shortage, potentially spelling disaster for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. Although climate change poses the greatest medium to …

ABIDJAN – If you are looking for an argument in West Africa, try asking which country serves the best jollof. While Senegalese can claim to have invented the popular rice-based dish, Nigerians, Ghanaians, and others across the region will fiercely defend their own recipes as the tastiest. But one thing is not …

NEW YORK – Climate change is no longer a future problem. It is here, and the effects are all around. Worse, today’s extreme weather events are just a preview of the pain that awaits humanity in the coming decades, almost regardless of how fast we manage to decarbonize the economy …

NEW DELHI – The recent Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact was touted by its organizers, including French President Emmanuel Macron, as a groundbreaking initiative to forge a “new contract” between the Global North and South that would address climate change and foster sustainable development. The fact that …

CAMBRIDGE – Fifteen years ago, I watched in rapt attention as a resplendent, yet surreal, scene unfolded: the election of the first-ever African-American US president, Barack Obama. In the past week, the Supreme Court, in a landmark 6-3 ruling, struck down what may have been one of the key factors in making …

ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s victory lap following his re-election last month will be short, because his country is on the verge of economic meltdown. Turkey’s economy was also in crisis when Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) first came to power, in 2002. Back then, Turks overwhelmingly …

NEW YORK – The leader of an authoritarian country with enormous energy reserves builds up his armed forces along the border of a weaker neighbor, one he claims has no right to exist as an independent country. He then proceeds to launch an invasion, with the goal of swallowing his …