Argument
An expert’s point of view on a current event.
-
Afghan National Army commandos take position during an ongoing battle between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces in Helmand province on October 10, 2016. At least 14 people, mostly Afghan security forces were killed in southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah on October 10, after the Taliban insurgents launched a coordinated attack involving a car bomb, to breach the city defences, Afghan officials said. / AFP / NOOR MOHAMMAD (Photo credit should read NOOR MOHAMMAD/AFP/Getty Images) The Mother of All Terrorist Groups Isn’t the Islamic State
The Trump administration is taking its eyes off the ball in Afghanistan. The real threat is still al Qaeda.
-
mosulrebuild Here’s How We’re Building a Better Mosul
I know it can be hard to look past the destruction wrought by the Islamic State, but together we can build a peaceful, prosperous city.
-
French presidential election candidate for the En Marche! movement Emmanuel Macron looks on after delivering a speech during a campaign rally in Reims on March 17, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI (Photo credit should read FRANCOIS ≈) France’s Presidency Is Too Powerful to Work
Emmanuel Macron will likely be the next occupant of the most powerful office in the democratic world. He'll also be its next victim.
-
TOPSHOT - Demonstrators clash with the riot police during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on April 20, 2017. Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas Thursday at groups of protesters seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro, who have vowed new mass marches after a day of deadly unrest. Police in western Caracas broke up scores of opposition protesters trying to join a larger march, though there was no immediate repeat of Wednesday's violent clashes, which left three people dead. / AFP PHOTO / JUAN BARRETO (Photo credit should read JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images) Venezuela Is Heading for a Soviet-Style Collapse
A few lessons from the last time an oil economy crashed catastrophically.
-
TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 24: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives on stage to speak during a campaign rally at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre on October 24, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. There are 14 days until the the presidential election. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) If Trump Would Only Stop Tweeting, He Might Actually Be a Good President
The White House’s foreign policy is normal. The commander-in-chief isn’t.
-
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets with Jason Greenblatt, the US president's assistant and special representative for international negotiations, at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on March 14, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images) Trump’s Israel-Palestine Negotiator Is Perfectly Unqualified
And that might be exactly why he pulls off a peace deal.
-
ChinaTimes China’s Angriest Newspaper Doesn’t Speak for China
Nationalist tabloid Global Times has the Communist Party’s backing, but its editorial strategy is more independent than you might think.
-
TOPSHOT - A member of the Iraqi forces walks past a mural bearing the logo of the Islamic State (IS) group in a tunnel that was reportedly used as a training centre by the jihadists, on March 1, 2017, in the village of Albu Sayf, on the southern outskirts of Mosul. Iraqi forces launched a major push on February 19 to recapture the west of Mosul from the Islamic State jihadist group, retaking the airport and then advancing north. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images) Terrorists Are Not Snowflakes
The West has started treating would-be terrorists as children in need of protection from radical ideas. That's as dangerous as it is insulting.
-
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - MAY 28: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3rdR) inspects an insulin pen as she visits the new production facility for sterile glass vials at the Sanofi pharmaceuticals plant on May 28, 2015 in Frankfurt, Germany. Sanofi Germany generalmanager Martin Siewert, CEO of Sanofi Olivier Brandicourt and the mayor of Frankfurt Peter Feldmann (L-R) stand by side. Merkel is visiting the factory, which produces antibiotics and insulin, ahead of the upcoming G7 summit, where the global struggle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria is among topics to be discussed by G7 leaders. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images) Germany Has an Arrogance Problem
One country’s moral evangelism is the rest of the world’s intolerable smugness.
-
This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 11, 2016 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (front C) during a combat drill of the service personnel of the special operation battalion of the Korean People's Army Unit 525. / AFP / KCNA VIA KNS / KNS / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. / (Photo credit should read KNS/AFP/Getty Images) Kim Jong Un Is a Survivor, Not a Madman
North Korea's behavior might seem irrational to outsiders, but the Kim regime is just taking logical actions to survive.
-
PARIS, FRANCE - APRIL 23: Founder and Leader of the political movement 'En Marche !' Emmanuel Macron speaks after winning the lead percentage of votes in the first round of the French Presidential Elections at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on April 23, 2017 in Paris, France. Macron and National Front Party Leader Marine Le Pen, who received second largest vote, will compete in the next round of the French Presidential Elections on May 7 to decide the next President of France (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images) Emmanuel Macron Is Everything America’s Democrats Are Not
The unlikely front-runner to be France’s next president proves the problem with liberalism is the messenger, not the message.
-
GettyImages-654560702crop The Radical Centrism of Emmanuel Macron
France's presidential front-runner is drawing on a tradition with little precedent in his country's politics.
-
A picture taken 19 October 2007 in Lyon, shows Interpol's building after a press conference of Jean-Michel Louboutin, international police organisation Interpol's Executive director, following the arrest by Interpol of Christopher Paul Neil, a suspected Canadian paedophile, aka "Vico", accused of sexually abusing young boys in Southeast Asia. Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was nabbed in Thailand's third-largest city Nakhon Ratchasima following an unprecedented appeal from international police organisation Interpol for public help in finding him. AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images) Interpol Is Helping Enforce China’s Political Purges
Beijing is happy to take advantage of an international red notice system that is notoriously easy to abuse — and is now overseen by a former Chinese official.
-
MELBOURNE, FL - SEPTEMBER 27: Donald Trump speaks to a large group of supporters at a Florida airport hanger the day after his first debate with Hillary Clinton on September 27, 2016 in Melbourne, Florida. Trump has lashed out at the debate moderator, his microphone and Hillary Clinton following the at times combative debate. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The Other N-Word
Well-meaning Westerners, including Americans, should stop suggesting that nationalism is imaginary. It's real, powerful, and here to stay.
-
EAST KILBRIDE, SCOTLAND - MARCH 27: Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech at the Department for International Development's office at Abercrombie House on March 27, 2017 in East Kilbride, Scotland. The Prime Minister is in Scotland ahead of triggering Article 50 later in the week. (Photo by Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Does Theresa May Actually Care About Keeping the Kingdom United?
The prime minister’s triumph in the coming election could mean the country’s demise.
