As an escape from the relentless political theater in Washington, I took a London vacation.　I love British theater, and, as so often happens in London, the most intriguing shows were political with an eye on events across the pond. The 2008 financial crash, the demise of democracy, immigration, Brexit: the prospects were endless if you could cadge a ticket.　Watching political drama on stage was far more satisfying than the dispiriting reality at home.　I include under “political theater” the bril

As far as you know, I’m just a regular female professional, but what you may not realize is that I’m part of a rising demographic of working women in their 30s who remain childless by choice so as not to derail their slowly rising careers.　I won’t lie, I’ve caught myself at times looking differently at co-workers who were working moms when they established certain patterns: arriving late to work, abusing work-from-home policies, taking frequent extended lunch breaks, dashing out of or canceling

Scarcely had I begun my first lecture of the fall semester here at the University of California, Berkeley, when I realized that I was too hot. I desperately wanted to take off my professorial tweed jacket.A tweed jacket is a wonderful but peculiar costume. If all you have for raw material is a sheep, it is the closest thing you can get to Gore-Tex. Not only is it perfect for a cloudy, drizzly climate, it is also surprisingly warm -- wet or dry -- for its weight. In the world before central heati

Back in 1965, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, then France’s minister of finance, famously called the benefits that the United States reaped from the dollar’s role as the world’s main reserve currency an “exorbitant privilege.” The benefits are diminishing with the rise of the euro and China’s renminbi as competing reserve currencies. And now US President Donald Trump’s misguided trade wars and anti-Iran sanctions will accelerate the move away from the dollar.The dollar leads all other currencies in su

Nathaniel Bullard

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made an impassioned call to his compatriots to “show our faces” against a rise in right-wing extremism. The plea is a stark warning that Germany should guard against succumbing to the kind of boiled-frog effect that ended up killing the Weimar Republic in the 1930s. There is some justification for the alarmism.Maas, a member of the Social Democratic Party or SPD, became the German right’s favorite hate figure as justice minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s go

An outbreak of African swine fever has China’s meat eaters, investors and bureaucrats in a panic. That should be no surprise: The country is the world’s biggest pork producer and consumer, and has a history of food-safety and health scandals that have fueled public distrust.　The government’s response, in culling 38,000 pigs, has been quick and efficient this time. But public suspicion, fanned by the handling of previous incidents, is running high. Authorities are seeking to censor social media p

Donald Trump’s absence from Asia-Pacific summits will do little harm to America’s long-term standing in the region. It might even help.　The president’s decision to skip two international meetings in November was predictably seen as evidence of American neglect of a vital region, underscoring the unilateralist instincts of Trump. The complaints are fair.　But let’s not mistake pageantry for trends that have been building for years and look inevitable. American influence is waning in ways that a fe

“There are two sides at the moment in Europe. One is led by Macron, who is supporting migration. The other one is supported by countries that want to protect their borders.” This is how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the European political landscape during his August meeting with the Lega party’s Matteo Salvini, the strongman in the Italian government. “If they want to see me as their main opponent, they are right,” French President Emmanuel Macron instantly replied.Both Orban a