The Loudest of Backfires
NEED TO KNOW FRANCE As Americans await news of Russia meddling in their electoral politics, it may be instructive to consider the […]
Got Beef?
NEED TO KNOW INDIA Indians are practicing a new form of civil disobedience. They are eating beef. “Eating beef has become a […]
Pretexts for Isolation
NEED TO KNOW QATAR The most fascinating aspect of the diplomatic crisis surrounding Qatar is that nobody appears to know exactly why […]
Control Orders
NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM Police killed the three Islamic State-affiliated terrorists who staged an attack on London Bridge over the weekend […]
Good Cop, Bad Cop
NEED TO KNOW TERRORISM In the early 1990’s, law enforcement throughout the United States adopted community policing with the aim of reinvigorating […]
Talking Over Troubled Waters
NEED TO KNOW ASIA In addition to sealing business deals worth billions when they met at the White House on Wednesday, Vietnamese […]
A Difficult Goodbye
NEED TO KNOW A Difficult Goodbye After nearly 40 years in power, ailing Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos has announced that […]
Tenacious Temer
NEED TO KNOW Tenacious Temer When Michel Temer became Brazil’s president last year, hopes were high he would restore a measure of […]
New World Order
NEED TO KNOW New World Order The world order ended on Sunday. It’s not the first time, of course. Plenty of folks […]
Two Presidents
NEED TO KNOW Two Presidents It was a peculiar moment in world politics yesterday as US President Donald Trump and his predecessor, […]
Changing Direction
NEED TO KNOW Changing Direction The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, has been a pillar of transatlantic relations in the post-World […]
May’s Mission
NEED TO KNOW May’s Mission With Britain weeks away from a general election, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s conservative Tory Party has […]
No Illusions
NEED TO KNOW No Illusions Earlier this month, global leaders and the international community at large commemorated the twelfth-annual International Day Against […]
Good and Evil
NEED TO KNOW Good and Evil US President Donald Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia on Sunday reinforced the battle lines that have […]
A League of Its Own
NEED TO KNOW A League of Its Own President Donald Trump will embark on a string of foreign visits Friday that includes […]
House of Cards
NEED TO KNOW House of Cards Ordinary Chinese people know that the children of Communist Party leaders amass wealth via familial connections. […]
No to Silence
NEED TO KNOW No to Silence Mexican journalists demonstrated on Tuesday to remember the life and protest the murder of Javier Valdez, […]
Loathe Thy Neighbor
NEED TO KNOW Loathe Thy Neighbor In Iraq, military forces are opening new fronts against the Islamic State in Mosul, advancing efforts to […]
The Iron Mainstream
NEED TO KNOW The Iron Mainstream German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position as the most powerful leader in Europe appears secure after her […]
The Long Road
NEED TO KNOW Nepal Nepal’s long struggle toward democracy hit another bump recently when Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi nearly resigned in […]
Risks and Gains
NEED TO KNOW Risks and Rewards Stretching from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, the Silk Road underpinned China’s economic and cultural dominance […]
Clearing the Path
NEED TO KNOW Clearing the Path For decades, world leaders have launched many high-powered development and philanthropic initiatives in Africa. Seven years […]
In Bloom
NEED TO KNOW In Bloom Tech giant Google fired up its first internet servers last week on the formerly isolated island of […]
Viva la Reprieve
NEED TO KNOW Viva la Reprieve As Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency in a landslide on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s […]