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Ideas Trump And The World

Donald Trump Era Opens With Darkness

The 45th U.S. president took office by discarding the postwar precedent of values-based U.S. leadership of and engagement with the rest of the world.

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Obama’s Shadow, White House Photographer Pete Souza Looks Back

Pete Souza has worked for the Chicago Tribune, Life and National Geographic. He’s covered the war in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and the beginning of Barack Obama’s Senate career. He’s been the White House’s official photographer twice, for Ronald Reagan and for Barack Obama. At 62, Souza is always ready for another shot. But […]

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In The News

Skip A Heartbeat, Why Medical Implants Can Be Easily Hacked

PARIS — Here’s some terrible news for millions of people around the world who need pacemakers, insulin pumps or electrodes that relieve chronic pain or symptoms of Parkinson’s disease: These implant devices can be easily hacked. Remember that episode from television series Homeland a few years ago? The one when hackers attempted to kill a […]

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In The News

Donald Trump’s Long History With Russia

WASHINGTON, DC — President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he has “NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!” Trump, however, has a long history with Russia, trying repeatedly to build luxury properties in Moscow, holding a beauty pageant there, and benefiting from heavy investments from Russians in his properties around the world. It is not possible to verify whether Trump has no current deals or loans with Russian entities because he has refused to release his tax returns. But a look at Trump’s record since the 1980s shows that he and his family long have […]

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In The News

Watching The Trump Storm From Across The Atlantic

-OpEd- PARIS — As far as beginnings go, this is a terrible start. As a matter of fact, it’s going badly before it has even started. Though American politics has no shortage of scandals, this is still unprecedented. One week before his inauguration, President-elect Trump finds himself under devastating fire. Accused of mixing with a […]

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Economy Ideas

World Economy 2017 Forecast: Lost In The (Bretton) Woods

-Analysis- PARIS — Last year was full of surprises across the world: a spike of protectionist fever in the United States at the instigation of Donald Trump, an anti-globalization wave of populism in developed countries bogged down by mass unemployment, Britain’s planned exit for from the European Union, worries about a widening inequality gap, migration […]

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In The News

Democracy At Risk, A Loud And Clear Warning For 2017

The rise of Donald Trump, as well as the growing power of populist leaders in Europe, will require a vigilant eye when the signs start appearing that puts basic democratic values in harm’s way. It is just beginning.

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In The News

Goldman Sachs, The Singular New York-To-Washington Path To Power

After bashing the investment bank during the campaign, why Donald Trump could not resist picking three top executives to run his economic policy.

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Trump And His Generals, Major Military Weight In Next White House

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has selected retired Marine Gen. John Kelly as secretary of homeland security, officials familiar with the decision said Wednesday, recruiting a third former member of the military’s brass to serve at the highest levels of his administration. Trump’s choice of Kelly — and his continued deliberations about tapping as many as two more military figures for other posts — has intensified worries among some members of Congress and national security experts that the new administration’s policies may be shaped disproportionately by military commanders. “I’m concerned,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Foreign […]

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In The News

My Muslim Faith, Explained To Terrified Americans

Just before this week’s attack by a Muslim student at Ohio State University, which authorities believe was inspired by ISIS, a young peace-loving Muslim-American described his faith in this essay.

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In The News

Cuba Policy Exposes Tensions To Come In Trump Presidency

The death of Cuba’s Fidel Castro offers an early glimpse at how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will need to balance his pro-growth economic plans and allegiance to business with the hard-line campaign pledges that helped him win the election. Trump has promised to reverse the improved U.S. relations with Cuba forged by President Barack Obama over the past two years unless the Caribbean nation met his demands for more political and religious freedoms. Reince Priebus, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, reiterated that message on Sunday in an interview on Fox News. Priebus said the U.S. needed “a better deal” from […]

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Economy Ideas

Populism Is Bad Economics, Lessons For Donald Trump From Latin America

-Analysis- Populists sometimes have good ideas. Taking advantage of historically low interest rates to launch a stimulus plan, for example, is a good idea. Standing up to China, which is massively subsidizing its steel exports and restricting freedom to invest in the country through law and might, is another good idea. So too is rethinking […]

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In The News

Leadership By Bluster, A Preview Of Trump’s Reality TV Presidency

WASHINGTON — For Donald Trump, little is more intoxicating and affirming of his own power than creating tornadoes and watching them tear across the landscape. In the space of just 24 hours this week, the president-elect set off cyclones near and far that preview the drama he seems likely to bring to the White House. Trump summoned two dozen television executives and news anchors to his offices Monday to berate them as dishonest and disobedient. He sought to strong-arm the British government into appointing his Brexit ally, Nigel Farage, as ambassador to the United States. He dropped his threat to […]

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Ideas Trump And The World

The Rise Of Trump And The Fall Of Representative Democracy

-Analysis- I want to avoid all possible misunderstandings so I’ll go straight to the point: I believe Donald Trump’s victory was the effect of an irreversible decline of representative democracy as a viable system of government. What leads me to this conclusion is not my antipathy towards the campaign that led him to victory, nor […]

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In The News

America And Us, Trump’s Victory Is Very Bad News For The World

With Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House, America will enter the fifth phase in its relationship with the rest of the world. Despots have reason to cheer.

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In The News

Angry And Anonymous — And I Voted For Trump

ST LOUIS — I’m the guy who never answered the phone when caller ID said “Number Unavailable.” I don’t want every opinion, every perspective, and every trend to be visible to those who would mold public opinion. I am suspicious that had the power brokers in Washington known what was coming, they’d have found a way to get Hillary Clinton into office. I didn’t want that. I’m fed up. Enough is enough. I want my country back. This is supposed to be a government of the people — not of the banks, lobbyists and foreign donors. I am one of […]

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Ideas Trump And The World

Melania Trump And Me, Two Slovenians Arrive In Washington

WASHINGTON — Melania Trump (or Melania Knavs, as she was called before she married and moved into Trump Tower) will be the only first lady since 1829 to have been born outside the United States. John Quincy Adams’ wife, Louisa Adams, was the last, having been born in England when the U.S. was still a […]

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Economy Trump And The World

Trump Ethics And Conflicts Of Interest: What Happens Now?

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump will face wide-ranging questions about his ethics and integrity from the moment he enters the White House in January. The president-elect says he’ll turn over his vast financial holdings to his kids. But many doubt a blind trust will insulate him completely, potentially exposing him to conflicts of interest or the appearance of such conflicts on a range of domestic and foreign issues as no president before. During the campaign, Trump branded his opponents with nicknames such as “Lyin Ted” and “Crooked Hillary.” Yet more than Ted Cruz or Hillary Clinton, he lied and shrewdly assumed […]

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Geopolitics Ideas Trump And The World

Trump Victory: We’ll Never Talk About Globalization The Same Way Again

-OpEd- They said he could never win. At best, Donald Trump was seen as a voice for a growing number of desperate Americans. Trump was a symptom of the political and cultural misery of the working classes in the United States — the empire of our time. His strongest critics portrayed him as a monstrous, […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

Trump Shock, The Blindness And Naivety Of The U.S. Media

WASHINGTON — To put it bluntly, the media missed the story. In the end, a huge number of American voters wanted something different. And although these voters shouted and screamed it, most journalists just weren’t listening. They didn’t get it. They didn’t get that the huge, enthusiastic crowds at Donald Trump’s rallies would really translate into that many votes. They couldn’t believe that the America they knew could embrace someone who mocked a disabled man, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and spouted misogyny, racism and anti-Semitism. It would be too horrible. So, therefore, according to some kind of magical thinking, […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics Trump And The World

Obama’s Paradox: A Good Man, A Bad World, A Bitter End

TURIN — The destiny of soon-to-be former President Barack Obama reminds me of history’s great love stories. Desire then regret, always longing for something that is never quite fulfilled. When the 44th President of the United States appeared on the scene he was charismatic, athletic and affable, making history as the first African-American nominee from […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Yes Folks, Donald Trump Is Getting The Keys To The White House

What Trump has done is nothing short of cataclysmic.

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Youngstown, Rusting Ohio City Is Grim Trump-Clinton Battleground

Shuttered factories, lost hope and worse reign in this western Ohio city. But what Youngstown voters think may shape the country and world for the next four years.

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Trump Or Clinton? Arab-Americans’ Surprising Ambivalence

The navy blue Porsche, casual clothes and sparkling eyes of Fady Chamoun scream: “American Dream.” He came from Lebanon in 1972 to study engineering at the University of Michigan and stayed after the outbreak of civil war in 1975 in his homeland. He wouldn’t trade the life he’s built in Cleveland for anything. Over the […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Flaws And All, The World Will Miss Barack Obama

President Obama was, on many levels, a major disappointment. But his legacy is one of grace and integrity in a political world that grows uglier by the day.

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Lawyer Up! Clinton, Trump Camps Prepare For Contested Vote

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are arming up for a possible post-Election Day battle. Clinton is assembling a voter protection program that has drawn thousands of lawyers agreeing to lend their time and expertise in battleground states, though the campaign isn’t saying exactly how many or where. It is readying election observers in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and Arizona to assess any concerns — including the potential for voter intimidation — and to verify normal procedures. The Republican National Lawyers Association, which trains attorneys in battleground states and in local jurisdictions where races […]

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In The News

Who Will Win The White House, The Four Things To Know

In a normal election season, the signs would seem to point toward a Hillary Clinton victory. This is not normal.

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Economy Eyes on the U.S.

The German Car, Europe’s Last Stand Against U.S. Corporate Hegemony

In 2015, Apple earned more than the five most profitable companies in Europe combined.

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

‘That Mexican Thing’? Huge Contributions To U.S. Economy

-Analysis- MEXICO CITY — Republican nominee Donald Trump’s continuing tirade against Mexicans have set off alarms on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. But are his prejudices rooted in any fact? Not at all, if you consider recent studies that measure contributions made by Mexican immigrants in the U.S. One study by Mexican economist J. […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Trump Goes Armageddon, View Of The Donald “Unshackled”

-Analysis- WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is not really running a campaign for president anymore. Instead, he is involved in an extended revenge plot or is simply following the politics of grievance to its natural, unseemly end. See, campaigns have a message. They have strategy and tactics. They show restraint and coordination. Trump, in the 10 days since the release of a hot-mic tape of him making lewd and sexually suggestive comments about women, has done none of those things. Literally none. The Washington Post”s Jose Del Real counted more than 20 different messages from Trump during a five-minute span of […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Welcome To The Town That Always Votes For White House Winner

The town in Indiana of Terre Haute is a mix of organized labor and university students, traditional values and growing immigrant communities. It has picked the president the last 15 elections.

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In The News

Housing Crisis, Silicon Valley’s Dark And Shiny Underbelly

SAN FRANCISCO — A billboard for a new housing complex being built in San Francisco caught people’s attention last spring. Its sales-pitch slogan? “From the low 1,000,000s.” Some may have chuckled at the absurdity, but the price of the new units reflects the current reality of the market. The median price of a house in […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Future Trump And The World

The Trump-Clinton Race For Silicon Valley Support

Donald Trump has few supporters in liberal Silicon Valley: Even Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and Facebook board member, who spoke for Trump at the Republican National Convention, hasn’t given a cent to the campaign. Yet the tech world doesn’t unanimously favor Democrats. Consider, for example, the financial support that Oculus founder Palmer Luckey has given to a pro-Trump trolling campaign. Luckey, 24, sold his virtual reality startup to Facebook for $2 billion after Oculus became a crowdfunding star. He has confirmed to the Daily Beast that he’s donated money to a group called Nimble America to produce memes and […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Presidential Debate, Mister Television V. Madam Secretary

Donald Trump is a master of TV. Monday night’s one-on-one showdown with Hillary Clinton will be a new test.

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Society

From NYC To DC, Yonderman’s American Journey Continues

Slovenian-born Andrej Mrevlje has lived all around the world, sharing his stories and ideas. Now, after five years in the Big Apple, it’s time for life inside the beltway.

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Economy

How Robert McNamara And The Whiz Kids Invented Big Data

History mostly knows him as the disgraced architect of the Vietnam War, but McNamara first made his mark in the corporate world with his mastery of numbers before it was as fashionable as it is today.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Reflections On 9/11: How The Intellectuals Got It Wrong

It is a philosopher’s job to debunk prejudice and foregone conclusions. But isn’t there also a duty to not ignore the facts? A look back 15 years later from a prominent Paris thinker.

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

No, Donald Trump Is Not A Fascist

Even for those who abhor the Republican nominee, it’s important to get the terminology right.

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Trump And The World

Why Trump Doubled Down On Hardline Immigration Stance

WASHINGTON — The morning after Donald Trump once again embraced his hard-line immigration posture in a shouted speech, at least four members of his two-week-old Hispanic advisory council said they might not vote for the Republican presidential nominee and warned that his harsh rhetoric would cost him the election. At meetings Thursday on the 14th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan, the candidate’s top aides held the opposite view. They thought his tough talk on immigration — combined with a whirlwind trip to Mexico on Wednesday — had, in the words of one adviser, “won him the election.” “How do […]

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Economy

The Apple-Samsung War Turns 10

The two tech giants are engaged in an all-out struggle for market supremacy. Samsung may sell more smartphones, but Apple generates more profit. Where will each turn next?

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