Shadowy Lines
NEED TO KNOW QATAR An already shaky Middle East now faces the ongoing Qatar crisis. Saudi Arabia – along with Bahrain, Egypt, […]
A Telenovela
NEED TO KNOW BRAZIL Brazil is on track to lose its second president in a year to corruption allegations. On Tuesday, the […]
A President, an Administrator and Drones
NEED TO KNOW INDIA Fresh off his resounding win in the heavyweight Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the early spring, Indian […]
Trap of Luxury
NEED TO KNOW ITALY Living desperate and homeless on Italy’s tiny Lake Como might seem impossible. But that’s the plight of Ivory […]
Systems and Risk
NEED TO KNOW CHINA China might soon learn the lessons of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. On Thursday, Chinese regulators suggested that […]
Tit for Tat
NEED TO KNOW RUSSIA Relations between Washington and Moscow have been under pressure since President Obama introduced sanctions against Russia for its […]
Freefall
NEED TO KNOW VENEZUELA As Venezuela continues to spiral out of control, Caracas’s voracious borrowing to prop up the nation’s withering economy […]
A Mosque, an Advance and Desperate Gambles
NEED TO KNOW IRAQ At the heart of Mosul’s historic center stands the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, a relic of the 12th […]
Third Try
NEED TO KNOW AFGHANISTAN War in Afghanistan is escalating again, putting pressure on a third American president to find a solution to […]
Man of the Hour
NEED TO KNOW FRANCE Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron is set to become one of the most powerful politicians on Earth. […]
A Terrible Question
NEED TO KNOW PHILIPPINES Every day for the past three weeks, the remaining residents of the lakeside southern Philippine town of Marawi […]
Oh, Canada
NEED TO KNOW CANADA To Western nations shaken by populist uprisings, Canada – with its robust economy and charismatic, outward-looking prime minister […]
A Game of Catch-Up
NEED TO KNOW SOMALIA It’s usually terror group Boko Haram that captures attention in Africa. But in the Horn, it’s the fight […]
Number 51
NEED TO KNOW PUERTO RICO In this time of secession, civil wars and bitter disputes between opposing ideological camps around the world, […]
A Roll of the Dice
NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM “May’s big gamble fails,” read front page of the Times of London. “Mayhem,” splashed the Sun. “Exit […]
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 […]