Argument
An expert’s point of view on a current event.
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A New York City police officer stands in fog after a water main break on Broadway in New York on Jan. 13. Obamacare for Geopolitics
The United States needs better insurance against attacks—whether by Mother Nature or human actors.
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People carry a giant Belarusian historical white-red-white flag during a rally against a Belarusian-Russian integration project in Minsk on Dec. 7, 2019. The Birth of Belarusian Nationalism
In trying to bring Belarus and Russia together, Lukashenko may have awakened his country’s citizens to how independent they really want to be.
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Shiite Muslim pilgrims walk in front of posters of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the spiritual leader of the Shiite community Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement Hasan Nasrallah during their procession from the holy Iraqi city of Najaf to the central shrine city of Karbala on Oct. 12, 2019. Washington Doesn’t Understand Shiite Clerics in Iran or Iraq
U.S. officials who praise Iraqi Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani while denouncing Iran’s supreme leader fail to grasp that the two clerical leaders have a shared interest in resisting outside threats.
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Former NBA player Kobe Bryant attends a basketball teaching activity in Haikou in China's southern Hainan province on Sept. 12, 2017. Kobe Bryant Was the United States’ Best Ambassador in China
The basketball legend’s death was bigger than virus news in a country that loved him.
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Demonstrators hold up placards outside the Australian Open during a climate protest rally in Melbourne on Jan. 24. How to Broaden the Coalition Against Climate Change
There’s a limit to what any one company can do when it operates within a system in which oil, gas, and even coal use are still rising.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint statement in the East Room of the White House. Trump’s Peace Plan Aims to Make Israeli Occupation Permanent
The administration's goal is not peace but the normalization of Israel’s military rule over millions of Palestinians.
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U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James Malloy speaks during the International Maritime Security Construct opening ceremony in Manama, Bahrain, on Nov. 7, 2019. Trump’s Curious Multilateralism
His administration may end up besting its predecessors’ records in bringing partners together in the Persian Gulf.
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Medical staff walk outside a hospital in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 26. Chinese Health Care Needs More Communism
As the Wuhan virus spreads, access to health care is a critical issue.
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Protestors gather to demonstrate against India's new citizenship law. The Standoff Between India’s Government and Its Protesters Can Only Be Broken by Elections
Narendra Modi’s government thinks an “us and them” narrative will win it state elections—but that plan may backfire.
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A road snakes through the Atewa forest in Ghana on Sept. 5, 2019. The road was built by the Ghanaian government to allow researchers to sample soil ahead of the start of mining operations. Ghana’s Bauxite Boom
Chinese investment has led to a crush of infrastructure development in Ghana’s tropical forests—and not everyone is happy about it.
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before he and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign phase one of a trade deal at the White House on Jan. 15. Trump’s Phase One Deal With China Misunderstands Global Trade
And it may create more losers than first meets the eye.
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Pigeons fly next to monuments on a foggy day in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 17, 2017. How Ukraine Vanished in the Fog of Impeachment
American leaders now understand that Kyiv is critical to domestic politics. But they've forgotten how important it is to U.S. foreign policy.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rides a white horse to climb Mount Paektu in an image distributed on Oct. 16, 2019, by the North Korean government. Kim Jong Un Rides to His Family’s Battles
North Korea’s new propaganda campaign looks to old myths.
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A vendor (C) wearing a facemask offers meat at a near-empty market on the eve of the Lunar New Year in Wuhan on January 24, 2020. Don’t Blame Bat Soup for the Coronavirus
Racist memes target Chinese eating habits, but the real causes of the virus are more mundane.
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A woman walks past electoral billboards bearing a portrait of Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sept. 4, 2019. In Israel’s Endless Elections, Female Candidates Have Been the Biggest Losers
Party mergers and other systemic problems have buried the country’s once-vaunted female political leadership.