First came October’s ominous headlines from half a world away: China was suddenly darkening Taiwan’s air defense zone skies with record numbers of warplanes -- 150 sorties in the first two weeks of October. Their undeclared fly-by missions were far more menacing than Beijing’s eruptions of propaganda-machined war clouds. But on Oct. 13, in case Western policymakers didn’t get what is really at stake, the wizards behind Washington’s conventional wisdom curtains just

The Washington Consensus is on its way out. In a report released this week, the G-7 Economic Resilience Panel (where I represent Italy) demands a radically different relationship between the public and private sectors to create a sustainable, equitable and resilient economy. When G-20 leaders gather on Oct. 30-31 to discuss how to “overcome the great challenges of today” -- including the pandemic, climate change, rising inequality and economic fragility -- they must avoid falling bac

The post-World War II global institutional order is obsolete. This is not a recent development: The need for reform has been apparent for a long time. And yet, the necessary transformation is more comprehensive than many realize and more urgent than ever. The reasons are not difficult to discern. Power is being transferred to new (and more) actors. Nonstate actors have gained more influence. And international cooperation has shifted from a hard-law approach, based on clear rules and treaties,

Around the world, governments are challenging the immense power of Big Tech, causing politically motivated showdowns between their officials and tech companies to become increasingly commonplace. In mid-September, just as voting began in Russia’s parliamentary elections, Apple and Google capitulated to ongoing government demands to remove from their online stores a smartphone app created by allies of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. To channel support away from the Kremlin’s prefer

Plans to survey chipmakers and keep tabs on the supply chain to head off further disruption highlight just how disconnected the US government is from the realities of a $500 billion industry that spans the globe. Instead, American diplomats would do well to work with allies to build an integrated real-time database that will last well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. A request last month by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for semiconductor companies to detail their sales, products, technology and

On a recent Sunday morning, I went for a leisurely stroll at Seooreung, a Joseon royal tomb in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, just outside Seoul. Entering the compound of five royal tombs, my husband mused about his elementary school field trips to Seooreung. Pointing to the huge mound on which the twin tombs of King Sukjong and his second wife sit side by side, he said the kids would run up the mound and then roll down. Korea in the ’70s did not have many grass fields and there were signs o

By going officially and formally rogue, Poland may unwittingly have done the European Union a favor. In blatantly challenging the bloc’s legal authority, Warsaw is forcing the EU to decide whether it wants to become the “ever closer union” it claims to be, or to remain the malleable club of nations it actually is. Union or club -- either way the EU will have to make fundamental changes if it intends to survive in the long run. Last week’s judgment in Warsaw was the judic