Project Syndicate

By Joseph S. Nye CAMBRIDGE – The great-power competition between the United States and China is a defining feature of the first part of this century, but there is little agreement on how it should be characterized.

By Nina L. Khrushcheva MOSCOW – When North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stepped out of his armored train at a railway station in the eastern Russian town of Khasan for his recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin, I could not help but think of the satirical 2017 film The Death of Stalin.

By Joschka Fischer BERLIN – We are living through eventful – one might even say “wild” – times, with history being made at a fast and furious pace.

By  Joshua Castellino LONDON – In March 1977, representatives from 116 countries gathered in Mar del Plata, Argentina, for the inaugural United Nations Water Conference.

By Yongheng Deng and Shang-Jin Wei MADISON/NEW YORK – Bribery of public officials remains a major problem across the developing world and in some developed countries, too.

By  Carla Norrlöf TORONTO – Many experts believe that the US dollar’s global hegemony, which has endured for nearly 80 years, is finally coming to an end.

By Carl Bildt STOCKHOLM – Russian President Vladimir Putin had obvious reasons for hosting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un at Vostochny, Russia’s new spaceport in eastern Siberia, this month.

By Shlomo Ben-Ami TEL AVIV – Peace processes tend to be riddled with uncertainties, especially when conflicts are protracted and each side’s intentions, willingness, and capacity to comply with any agreement remain unclear.

By Todd G. Buchholz SAN DIEGO – A movie starring Helen Mirren as Golda Meir has just opened, 50 years after the war that ended the Israeli prime minister’s career.

By Michael Spence, Anu Madgavkar, and Sven Smit MILAN – With the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week NYC about to begin, and the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) approaching fast, it is imperative that the world clarify the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability.

By Pepe Zhang and Otaviano Canuto WASHINGTON, DC – The world economy remains beset by challenges, from tight monetary, financial, and fiscal conditions to the effects of the war in Ukraine.

By Azali Assoumani, Emmanuel Macron, and Bola Tinubu PARIS – At the end of June, a historic summit on international solidarity concluded the Paris Agenda for People and the Planet.

By Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI – In 2014, after the Mars Orbiter Mission, known as Mangalyaan, made India the first Asian country to reach Mars orbit, and the first country ever to do so in its maiden attempt, The New York Times published a cartoon.

By Chris Patten TOULOUSE – The days between Christmas and the New Year often prompt many of us to reflect on the problems facing the world and to consider what we can do to improve our own lives.

By Lili Fuhr BERLIN – As the world grapples with an unprecedented confluence of devastating floods, wildfires, and droughts, the debate about how to address the escalating climate crisis is increasingly distorted by big-business interests peddling false remedies and promoting deceptive narratives.

By Nina L. Khrushcheva MOSCOW – A revanchist agenda, driven by the desire to rectify perceived historical wrongs, lies at the heart of Russia’s foreign policy and provides the rationale for its war in Ukraine.

By William R. Rhodes and John Lipsky WASHINGTON, DC – Three upcoming international gatherings – the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in October, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates in November – will focus on devising strategies to sustain global growth and tame inflation.

By Hippolyte Fofack CAIRO – Nearly 22 years after Jim O’Neill, then an economist at Goldman Sachs, coined the BRIC acronym to capture the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the group – called the BRICS since the addition of South Africa – contributes more to global GDP (in purchasing-power-parity terms) than the G7.

By James K. Galbraith TOWNSHEND, VERMONT – Three recent articles in The New York Times have signaled a “new” narrative about China.

By Edoardo Campanella MILAN – Disruptive technologies are rarely welcomed by workers or others with a significant stake in the status quo.