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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

The G20’s Futility On Ukraine Is Even Worse Than It Seems

It’s not just about the current diplomatic impasse between Russia and the West, it’s about the future — and that means China.

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In The News

Big Business, No Red Phone: Why U.S. v. China Is A Different Kind Of Cold War

To some, tensions between the U.S. and China look like a remake of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War. Yet the West’s nemesis this time is more sophisticated and tied to us commercially in ways Moscow never was. There are, however, also new kinds of danger.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Putin’s Nuclear Scare Tactics Come With Real Consequences

Russia has announced its withdrawal from a post-Cold War nuclear arms control treaty it signed with the U.S. The decision risks re-launching a global arms race.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Biden v. Putin? Don’t Underestimate The Weight Of “Sleepy Joe’s” Kyiv Surprise

In the inevitable race for symbolic victories on the eve of the Ukraine invasion’s first anniversary, Joe Biden scored a major victory with his surprise visit to Kyiv. Meanwhile, one year on, Vladimir Putin has yet to visit his own country’s troops on the front line.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

​Putin v. The West Began 16 Years Ago In Munich — And Nobody Noticed

The Munich Security Conference of 2023 takes place this weekend. The 2007 edition was a turning point for the world, where Vladimir Putin made his intentions clear — and today it all looks destined to arrive at the invasion of Ukraine.

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Future Ideas

“Team Jorge” Is A Warning: The Internet Could Kill Democracy — And Quicker Than You Think

The revelations of a clandestine digital operation that provides services to destabilize nations and manipulate opinion are a wake-up call for democratic states to take urgent action, including the need to hold Big Tech accountable.

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In The News

Balloons? UFOs? The Real Story Is The Perilous State Of U.S.-China Relations

Let’s call it the “war of the balloons”: Four unidentified flying objects have now been shot down by fighter jets in one week over North America. But the mystery of the details should not hide the bigger picture of how far U.S.-Sino relations have sunk in the past 10 days.

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In The News

Americans Can Never Unsee The Chinese Balloon — That’s The Real Danger

The Chinese spy balloon spotted over the U.S. and shot down on Saturday has suddenly brought once-distant fears into America’s backyard, which could set off a kind of “butterfly effect” of a small incident that leads to a much more dangerous showdown.

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Ideas Society

Calmez-Vous, Americans: It’s Quite OK To Call Us “The French”

A widely mocked tweet by the Associated Press tells its reporters to avoid dehumanizing labels such as “the poor” or “the French”. But one French writer replies that the real dehumanizing threat is when open conversation becomes impossible.

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Geopolitics

A Perfect Storm Of China-Taiwan Hostility: Will It Snap In 2023?

The past year has added new elements into the showdown across the Taiwan Strait, from Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the war in Ukraine to Xi jinping’s power grab. Now we may be reaching a tipping point that could lead to a military showdown, even if the question of when is still wide open.

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In The News

Hard Lessons From Brazil’s Attack On Democracy

What do we make of the echos from the U.S. Capitol assault on Jan. 6? Will Lula be able to heal Brazil’s democratic institutions?

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Ideas Russia-Ukraine War

Zelensky As Churchill, An Iconic ‘V’ For Victory Sign By Other Means

On his historic trip to Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recalls Winston Churchill in multiple ways, including that we wouldn’t have thought much of either one before war turned each into leaders of epic proportions. A view from Germany.

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Future Ideas

Absolute Free Speech Is A Recipe For Violence: Notes From Paris For Monsieur Musk

Elon Musk bought Twitter in the name of absolute freedom. But numerous research shows that social media hate speech leads to actual violence. Musk and others running social networks need to strike a balance.

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Economy Eyes on the U.S. Future

Some Historical Context On The Current Silicon Valley Implosion

Tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have lost far more money this year than ever before. Eccentric behavior and questionable decisions have both played a role. But there are examples in U.S. business history that have other clues.

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Geopolitics Ideas

In Brazil And U.S., Elections As Stress Tests For Democracy

After the Brazilian presidential election and the American midterms, checking the temperature on the state of democracy in a world that has been heading in the opposite direction for too long.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Brazil Divided: Why Lula’s Stunning Return Doesn’t Mean Bolsonaro Is Going Away

In Brazil, the leftist Lula da Silva’s narrow victory margin in the presidential elections must be seen for what it is: a measured rejection, in hard times, of the outgoing Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing excesses, in favor of competent moderation. But it bodes for very uncertain times ahead

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Geopolitics Green

How South American Oceans Can Sway The U.S.-China Showdown

As global rivalries and over-fishing impact the seas around South America, countries there must find a common strategy to protect their maritime backyards.

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Geopolitics

How The Trump Universe Is Backing Bolsonaro’s Reelection Bid In Brazil

Brazil’s Agência Pública reveals that Gettr, the social network run by Donald Trump’s former adviser Jason Miller, has sponsored conservative conferences in Brazil ahead of October’s presidential elections, which Steve Bannon has called the most important in South American history.

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Green Or Gone special series

A/C And Global Warming: A Northern Call To Embrace Air Conditioning

Misguided arguments about air conditioning’s environmental impact are stopping people from installing systems in homes and offices. But in the age of solar power, there’s no need to stew in your own sweat “for the sake of the planet.”

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Geopolitics Ideas

Pelosi In Taiwan: Bold Diplomacy, Perfect Timing

“She’s now the leader of the Western movement recognizing the existence of a democratic Taiwan, aiming to break Beijing’s “one-China principle…” A Taiwanese political scientist argues the 19-hour visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have real lasting impact.

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In The News

End Of Roe v. Wade Is Major Blow For Prenatal Genetic Screening

For families learning their child will be born with a debilitating condition, new legal issues create additional trauma.

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Society

“Stranger Things” Resurrects The U.S. Satanic Panic Of The 1980s

One of the major plotlines of the fourth season of Netflix’s hit show, set in 1986, takes inspiration in the real satanic panic that swept the United States in the 1980s.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Is Soft Power Dead?

With an activist Supreme Court creating a gap between democratic rhetoric and reality in the U.S., and Russia and China eager to flex military muscle, the full-force return to hard power looks bound for dominance.

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Society

To California Or Canada? Crossing State And National Borders For Abortions

Among the most immediate effects of the overturning of Roe v. Wade is that women who find themselves in states where abortion is outlawed will travel to where it is legal. But that of course requires the right information and economic means to do so.

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In The News

How Elon Musk’s Satellite System Changed The War In Ukraine

Wars on the ground are increasingly being won and lost up in space. Without a constellation of satellites, notably the Starlink fleet delivered promptly by Musk, Ukraine would not have been able to hold off Russia in the first weeks of the invasion. But there’s more work to be done for the West to stay ahead.

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In The News

Why China Is Still Watching Ukraine So Closely

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the rules of diplomacy. As Russia and China show budding unity, the world’s diplomats must look at the effects of Eastern Europe on East Asia — and Taiwan specifically.

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In The News

On A Montana Indian Reservation, The Opioid Crisis Has Hit Harder

The overdose death rate among Indigenous people was the highest of all racial groups in the first year of the pandemic.

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In The News

Summit Of The Americas: Why Washington Needs To Tend To Its Own Backyard

With Washington’s attention fixed on Russia, Ukraine and China, the upcoming Summit of the Americas will likely not be the “breakthrough” gathering to forge the equal ties Latin America has long sought from the United States. But Washington would be wise to invest in stronger unity in its own hemisphere.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Trump’s Return? The Rest Of The World Should Start Preparing Now

There is a growing likelihood that Donald Trump will return to the White House in Jan. 2025. Europe must act now to be ready to protect its democracy without relying on its U.S. ally.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Nothing More Dangerous Than A Clash Of Two Superpowers In Decline

The war in Ukraine is hastening the fall of major world powers Russia and the United States. There can only be one true victor from their protracted battle — China — and far too many risks for the rest of us.

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Ideas Society

Yes, Her Too: A Feminist Reading Of The Depp Vs. Heard Case

The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation suit has become a Hollywood media (sh*t) storm, but there are troubling real consequences in the way domestic violence is being portrayed, when the victim is less-than-perfect.

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Economy

Fried And Drizzled: Soaring Cooking Oil Prices Spark New Ethical Questions

The price of cooking oils and fats has gone up dramatically. Indonesia has even banned exports of palm oil. Suddenly, what type of oil and how we use it to fry foods, dress salads and process products has become an ever more important question.

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Future Ideas

Artificial Satellite Pollution, Perils For Biodiversity In Space And On Earth

Exploiting space resources and littering it with satellite and other anthropogenic objects is endangering the ecosystem of space, which also damages the earth and its creatures below.

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In The News

How Rihanna Ripped Apart The Bland Victorian Rules Of Maternity Clothing

Barbadian singer and businesswoman Rihanna has proudly celebrated her pregnant belly in fun and revealing clothes. By doing so, she is breaking away from the unspoken rule that pregnant women should hide their baby bumps.

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Future Ideas

Elon Musk Wants Twitter For The Big Data, Not The Free Speech

Oligarchs of the ‘Second Gilded Age’ in the like of Elon Musk are already able to influence the public’s minds through media ownership. But getting a hand on Twitter means having access to its users’ data and exploiting it for financial purposes.

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In The News

Open-Source Methods, The Cyber Weapon Anyone Can Use In Ukraine War

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, journalists and citizens have used open source online intelligence to help the war effort and fight disinformation. NGOs and amateur investigators are even using it to look for evidence of human rights abuses.

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Economy Society

The Tinder Method: How Match Group CEO Shar Dubey Hooks Up The World

At the head of Match Group, the online dating empire composed of Tinder, Meetic and Hinge, this CEO of Indian origin decides millions of people’s love lives on every continent. It’s a unique talent for turning digital relationship building into gold.

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Geopolitics Ideas

The Ukraine-Taiwan Analogy: Real Fears And False Correlations

The United States has no treaty obligation to send troops to protect Taiwan against China, but it has a “fairly clear” commitment to aid its defense, unlike in Ukraine. The economic stakes are also a source for worry.

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In The News

Quds v. Revolutionary Guards: Why U.S. Sees Iran’s Two “Terrorist” Forces Differently

Is there calculated diplomacy or just confusion behind the Biden administration’s ambivalent positions on what can only be defined as ‘terrorism’ of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards?

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Economy Future

Don’t Let The Metaverse Become Just Another Club For The Wealthy

Metaverses are introducing ownership and rarity to the internet for the first time in its history. It is already generating billions of dollars in transactions, but the risk is that it becomes a club exclusively for the wealthy.

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