During his annual press conference on Dec. 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin railed against NATO enlargement. “How would the US react if we delivered rockets near their borders with Canada or Mexico?” he pointedly asked. Putin’s increasingly combative rhetoric, coupled with Russia’s huge troop buildup on its border with Ukraine, suggests that the Kremlin is readying an invasion to pull the country back into Russia’s sphere of influence and prevent its accession

A conversation with Archbishop Simon Kim Soung-soo of the Anglican Church is heartwarming and inspirational. In the pro-democracy struggle decades ago, he was a courageous advocate. Now, he is a voice for people with developmental disabilities. The nonagenarian archbishop can be found on the Incheon island Ganghwado, which hugs the border separating North and South Korea. There, he assists 50 “friends” at Urimaul, or Our Village, a workplace aimed at ensuring the comfort and secu

BRIGHTON -- Digital systems are critical to development and humanitarian activities, but they can expose some of the world’s most vulnerable communities to unforeseen risks. Recent examples from Afghanistan highlight these dangers. In September, it was reported that the UK Ministry of Defence had been involved in two separate data breaches, potentially compromising the safety of participants in the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy program, which is intended to protect people who h

On the campaign trail in 2020, then candidate Joe Biden posed as hawk on Russia. In response to reports (later discredited) that then President Donald Trump had ignored intelligence suggesting Russia had paid for bounties on US forces in Afghanistan, Biden declared that Trump’s “entire presidency has been a gift to Putin.” Biden’s attitude was partly explained by his party’s obsession with the (also discredited) theory that Trump conspired with Russia to win the 20

Many Koreans often lament that they have not had great leaders with legacies such as John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, or Abraham Lincoln: If South Korea were lucky enough to have had such famous leaders, she would surely have been a more advanced and admirable country. Facing the Presidential Election Day in March 2022, many Koreans wish to have a great leader comparable to the above-mentioned political leaders. Thus, they wonder; “What would happen if one of those great

Two dangerous flashpoints, in Europe and Asia, could bring the United States, Russia and China into open conflict. The crises over Ukraine and Taiwan can be resolved, but all parties must respect the others’ legitimate security interests. Acknowledging those interests objectively will provide the basis for a lasting de-escalation of tensions. Consider Ukraine. Although it undoubtedly has the right to sovereignty and safety from a Russian invasion, it does not have the right to undermine R

“The return of the state” is a phrase seemingly on almost everyone’s lips nowadays. Given the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the argument goes, it is governments, not markets, that should be responsible for allocating resources. The neoliberal revolution started by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher has apparently run its course. New Deal-style state intervention is back. But this opposition of state and market is misleading, and it poses

Income and wealth inequality is unjust, and yet the world continues to tolerate rising injustices, the most recent being inequalities in vaccine distribution. French political economist Thomas Piketty and his colleagues at the World Inequality Lab have just published the World Inequality Report 2022, a real goldmine in data and insights on global inequalities. I found at least three nuggets inside that are blindingly obvious. First, inequality is primarily a political issue. We can all do so

This year marks the 300-year anniversary of Peter the Great’s declaration of himself as emperor and Russia as an empire. But it also marks another important date: 30 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the first is a cause for celebration, the second for regret. During his two decades in power, Putin has spared no effort dismantling Russia’s embryonic democracy and restoring Russia to its former glory. This is Putin&rsqu

When I was little, I frequently watched the movie “Home Alone” during the holiday season. The movie became a must-see for the holiday, just as “The Nutcracker” is an essential Christmastime performance. Although I watched “Home Alone” every year, it never got old. I cannot imagine spending Christmas without it. When I was a graduate student in Boston, I was approached by my friend who asked me about John Williams. She had an extra ticket to a Williams concert

After pressure from a group of embassies in Seoul, the South Korean government agreed to allow foreign residents to register overseas vaccinations for use in the COOV app vaccine pass and to apply for booster shots. Korean nationals vaccinated overseas and foreign residents with quarantine exemptions have been allowed to register their overseas vaccinations, but most foreign residents could not register their vaccination status. Fear over the omicron variant prompted the government to expand the

It’s not easy being female. But it’s often no picnic being male either. The world is changing faster than ever and, with it, so are notions of masculinity. Many men are feeling unmoored, for better or worse. If you happen to be James Bond, you take this flux in stride and effortlessly turn from the Sean Connery version of manhood into the more vulnerable and complex Daniel Craig variety. But how many real-life men have an inner 007 to channel? The reality for many of those who aren

Today, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un marks 10 full years of ruling the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. As his father Kim Jong-il died of heart failure on Dec. 17, 2011, Jong-un, the third son, then 29, immediately took over as chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party, DPRK, so as to not leave a power vacuum. He then added the various titles his father had held one by one: He became the supreme commander of the DPRK Armed Forces at the end of the year, a

Debates about race have frequently dominated news coverage in (and about) the US, often following acts of racial violence or legal proceedings against their perpetrators. But while Americans’ attention to issues of race continues to ebb and flow with the news, there seems to be little agreement among citizens and policymakers on what, if anything, to do about them. One stark and long-standing racial disparity is visible in the differences in socioeconomic outcomes for Black and white Amer