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When Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced the formation of a new security pact between them, China reacted with thinly veiled threats directed at Canberra. Feeling cast aside, the French government also expressed its indignation – but both Paris and Beijing will need to come to terms ...

Inflation is a grave economic and social illness. The policymakers and central bankers who colluded in running up excessive public debts and rigging monetary policy to sustain them might silently have been praying for higher inflation rates for quite some time. Finally, they are getting their wish. But for the ...

To achieve development goals, societies across the world will have to balance economic sustainability, social factors and ecological necessities. Already, business is making strong progress on this front. Governments’ role should be to set sensible parameters, but too often gets in the way, trying to spend or economically plan its ...

In the aftermath of the catastrophic retreat from Afghanistan, Europe was brutally confronted with its inability to function as an effective geopolitical player on the world stage. What the continent needs is to reassess the role of the European Union, and look beyond Brussels to create a cohesive and operable ...

Her Serene Highness Princess Marie of Liechtenstein, wife of the Ruling Prince Hans Adam II, died on August 21, 2021

The Biden administration botched the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving the country in chaos. The Afghans who took part in the Western modernization attempt have been left at the mercy of the victorious Taliban. Letting a 20-year-long intervention go to waste in this manner will have negative geopolitical consequences

Despite the death and destruction wrought by Marxist governments, the ideology is enjoying something of a resurgence these days. As troubling as that is, perhaps even more shocking is the rapid rise in anti-Christian sentiment. Both trends are a danger to freedom, but together, they make an even more alarming ...

The U.S. and its allies are retreating from Afghanistan after 20 years of futile efforts to stabilize the country and end its role as a haven for terror groups. The winners are the Taliban. As these Islamic fundamentalists move to reimpose harsh Sharia rule on the multiethnic population, civil war ...

With the onset of floods in Germany and elsewhere this summer, calls have grown louder for more climate change measures. But natural disasters happen all the time. What citizens should focus on is disaster preparedness and management. The Swiss example offers a path forward

As the systemic rivalry between China and the United States intensifies, the global security situation also rapidly evolves. New geopolitical hotspots are emerging and nations in conflict are adopting warfare tactics that differ from those of the 20th century. For Europe to adequately tackle these challenges, a broad public debate ...

Self-deception and dogmatism leading countries to their doom is nothing new. Historically, such a tendency among the ruling elites has led to major disruptions. As the ill-conceived climate policies and public overspending demonstrate in our time, democracies can be rigged to fall into this trap as well

The long U.S. intervention in Afghanistan is coming to an end. Far from having succeeded at creating a Western-style democratic system, Washington has demonstrated that attempts at imposing values are seldom successful. On the world stage, much more could be achieved by taking into consideration each country’s unique situation and ...

Swiss people are highly conscious of environmental challenges and do their best to protect air, water and natural habitats. If they narrowly rejected legislation to limit CO2 emissions in a recent referendum, it was because many refused to be intimidated with debate-quashing tactics in the process of formulating policies

G7 leaders have agreed to President Biden’s plan to counter China. The initiative to build infrastructure in the developing world has some merit, but is undermined by vague value pronouncements and a worrying drive toward a tax quasi-cartel

Food prices have been rising rapidly in recent weeks. While this trend is caused by a wide range of factors, it is yet another worrisome sign that economic trouble lies ahead in Western societies. Soon, countries saddled with crippling debt could have to deal with an inflation surge as well

Supranational bureaucracies are expanding their influence by promoting global tax harmonization. In cahoots with politicians, they covertly advocate for systems that ramp up the tax burden and weaken the very foundation of democracy

National governments and supranational organizations like the WHO continue to push for more power to head off the next big crisis. But they cannot provide safety from unpredictable catastrophes like Covid-19. Instead, the real solutions will come from local bodies, as long as they remain adaptable and prepared

The renewed fighting between the Palestinian territories and Israel is not, as some have argued, the root cause of instability in the Middle East. Rather, it is the manifestation of a broader turmoil that has been made worse by the international community’s tolerance of terrorist warfare, preventing local actors from ...

As if shackling economies, putting people under lockdown and running mind-boggling deficits were not damaging enough, Western governments are now discussing the suspension of the pharmaceutical industry’s patent rights, allegedly to help vaccinate poorer countries. This is the worst imaginable strategy, as damaging research would leave humankind exposed to future ...

The recent G7 meeting shows how global politics is fragmenting into two camps. It confirms that geopolitical polarization is occurring. The trend is a fact that we will have to face

Big government, high taxes, massive debt, political polarization and social crises have become the norm throughout Western Europe and North America. But it is high time for leaders and citizens to take a look at the lessons history has to offer. Only then could the region avoid going down the ...

Europe cannot afford a foreign policy that is poorly conceived, ill-targeted and amateurish in execution. There is a pressing need to add a pragmatic institution, probably outside the EU governance architecture, to improve Europe’s international standing, room for maneuver and security prospects

The U.S. and Europe face a flood of migrants. In both cases, leaders have signaled that immigrants would be welcome, spurring a wave of foreigners hoping to enter. But in Europe especially, a misplaced attempt at humanitarianism has made it easier for immigrants to abuse the system. On the other ...

The 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, canceled in 2018 by the Trump administration, failed to address Tehran’s disruptive interventions in the Middle East. A new round of negotiations has begun, but without a sound strategy, Western powers could once again conclude a hurried deal that would leave several countries at ...