As the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 sweeps across the globe, countries are shutting down. Yet Brazil’s ultra-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has emerged among world leaders as a voice of opposition against lockdowns. Trying to weaken the initiatives of the ministry of health and local politicians who are encouraging social distancing measures as a way […] More
We are told we live in an era of strongmen. The narrative also runs that these strongmen stick together. From the cozy relationship between China and Russia at the UN Security Council — led by Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin — to the mutual support of the likes of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin […] More
Combating the coronavirus pandemic requires reliable data for projecting infection rates, the effectiveness of mitigation steps and casualties. There are many subsets to consider: where it is spreading, transmission sources, demographic profiles, assessment of mitigation and treatment options, and lessons learned. But all of this is tentative at best given that we are not even […] More
March 25 marked the fifth anniversary since a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states, with direct support from the US, launched its campaign of airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The air campaign has gone hand-in-hand with an effort by Saudi and Yemeni forces opposing the Houthis to regain territory from the rebels. The Houthi […] More
History is not short of examples of autocrats who used a crisis to strengthen their grip on power. Our current crisis, triggered by the global spread of the new coronavirus, appears to be no different. Justified by the need for extraordinary measures to address the pandemic, on March 30 the Hungarian parliament approved an emergency […] More
On April 9, the government of Saudi Arabia unilaterally called for a two-week ceasefire in the five-year conflict that has ravaged Yemen, the Middle East’s poorest nation. The UN, the European Union and the US Congress have long called for a suspension of hostilities and a return to the negotiating table. In June 2019, Congress voted to suspend all weapons […] More
Joe Biden now stands alone as the Democratic Party’s presumptive candidate to run against the incumbent US president, Donald Trump, in November’s election. Officially, the suspense is over. But unofficially, it continues stronger than ever. One obvious reason is the chaos that affects all public activities due to the nation’s organized response to the coronavirus […] More
In photo after photo on their website, they show their volunteers doing everything from delivering food and supplies to people on low incomes to driving health-care professionals to work in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They say they’ve already helped thousands of their fellow citizens, warning people about the country’s quarantine regulations and […] More
