OPINION

By  Hélène Rey International monetary and financial systems may not be immutable, but nor do they change often. That is why the upheaval spurred by US President Donald Trump’s trade and tariff war is so remarkable – and difficult to decipher. To figure out what is going on, it is …

By Richard Haass NEW YORK – This is hardly a golden era of diplomacy. A ceasefire – let alone a lasting peace – between Russia and Ukraine remains a distant possibility, and neither Israel nor Hamas seems to view a long-term truce in Gaza as a priority. The one bright …

By Kaushik Basu NEW YORK – On March 26, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all cars and light-duty trucks imported into the United States. This measure took effect on April 3 – one day after the administration rolled out its “reciprocal tariffs” on US trading …

By Stephen S. Roach The world’s major growth engines are about to run in reverse. The policies and uncertainties of US President Donald Trump’s second administration have hit a sluggish global economy with a transformational exogenous shock. Risks are especially worrisome in both the United States and China, which have collectively accounted …

BERKELEY – In his inaugural address this January, Donald Trump framed immigration to the United States as a national security threat, proclaiming, “I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.” He then directed the Department of Defense to draw up a plan to “seal the …

NEW YORK – The end of Pax Americana is clearly in sight. While this has long been the goal of many leftists battling “American imperialism,” it is not really all that strange that a US government of right-wing zealots ultimately took a wrecking ball to the world order. America’s far …

By Antara Haldar CAMBRIDGE – While the end of World War II 80 years ago ushered in an age of reason, Donald Trump’s return to the White House has ushered it out. His MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement promises to take a wrecking ball to the postwar global economic …

SAN FRANCISCO – The release of the Chinese DeepSeek-R1 large language model, with its impressive capabilities and low development cost, shocked financial markets and led to claims of a “Sputnik moment” in artificial intelligence. But a powerful, innovative Chinese model achieving parity with US products should come as no surprise. It is the predictable …

By Terry Lynn Karl STANFORD – Los Angeles has been burning for almost two weeks now, and the blame game is in full swing. From diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and artificial-intelligence data centers to the mismanagement of public resources by political leaders, fingers seem to be pointed in every …

By Angela Bandemehr & Albert Park WASHINGTON, DC/MANILA – Lead is everywhere, often hiding in plain sight – in the water you drink, the air you breathe, the food you eat, your personal care products, and your children’s toys. Despite being a useful metal, it is highly toxic and difficult to detect: …