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Ban Ki Moon, United Nations | September 24, 2008 Today's challenges need to be faced with collaboration. ++ The UN is successfully fighting for democracy and human rights in various countries. ++ However, Darfur shows that mandates are empty if they are not backed by resources. ++ The foundation of the UN's work is accountability, and that can only be maintained if the UN becomes faster, more flexible, and ...More

Gideon Rachman, Financial Times | September 23, 2008 India and the US are celebrating their new nuclear deal this week. ++ Critics fear an unraveling of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. ++ Notwithstanding, India will be one of the great world powers and there is an unfortunate, yet undeniable link between power and nuclear weapons. ++ Although it may be hypocritical to permit India and sanction Iran, India ...More

Chan Akya, Asia Times | September 23, 2008 Washington is bankrupt, fiscally and morally. ++ Socialism is in full swing, proving the free-market Republicans hypocrites. ++ Paulson wants Congress to grant the Fed $700 billion to buy private assets. ++ Such a move will only create more financial turmoil for the US and Europe in the future. ++ Moreover, the entire G8 is a financially "spent force." ++ Yet, ...More

Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist | September 23, 2008 The US has done the right thing when it launched a rescue plan. ++ Those who argue how vast the initiative is are wrong because they underestimate the extensiveness of the US economy. ++ However, the true impact of the expansion of public spending lies in politics, because there is simply not much money left over for areas such as health care or alternative ...More

Jackson Diehl, The Washington Post | September 23, 2008 The Bush administration’s attempt at reconciling the Palestinian problem has been a dismal failure. ++ The peace process is unlikely to restart anytime soon; a plethora of elections, scandals, and spoilers will preclude a substantive, top-down agreement from taking shape. ++ A different approach is needed – one that works towards the ...More

Robert Fisk, The Independent | September 23, 2008 NATO is facing a wily and pitiless enemy in Afghanistan. ++ Taliban forces have reconstituted themselves into a formidable foe. ++ The transfer of nearly 5,000 troops from Iraq - where the situation is more dire than the Bush administration admits - to Afghanistan is “too few, too late, too slow.” ++ The British were unable to control Afghanistan in ...More

Nouriel Roubini, Financial Times | September 22, 2008 The demise of the shadow banking system began last week. ++ This is the financial crisis of the century. ++ Shadow banks are not protected from bank runs, as commercial banks are. ++ A run on hedge funds is highly probable. ++ If these institutions are to be government-insured, they will need regulation in order to avoid any moral dilemma implications. ++ A ...More

William Rees-Mogg, Times Online | September 22, 2008 Historically, reformers have always tried to stabilize activity through control of interest rates and money supply, but these are not consistently correlated. ++ The current crisis was foreseeable; booms cannot be eternal. ++ The world's central bankers should first save the system. ++ Many want to raise the expansion rate as soon as possible, but the US ...More

Editorial, The New York Times | September 22, 2008 President Bush's decision to allow US military operations within Pakistan shows how desperate the situation is becoming. ++ But, if the Taliban and other extremists are to be permanently subdued, it must be done by Pakistan itself. ++ The US must convince Pakistan that the fight against extremism is their fight, not just America's; Pakistan's leaders must ...More

Dani Rodrik, Harvard University | September 22, 2008 It has been unchallenged that export-led growth is the way to go for developing countries. ++ In light of the global slowdown, however, it is likely that the EU and US will become less hospitable to developing nations’ exports. ++ South-south trade cannot help, because emerging economies trade similar products and countries such as Brazil already struggle ...More