World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

As the debate over free trade continues in both the US and Europe, there is a tendency to think that the proper approach to trade is either/or:  either a state has a commitment to free trade or it does not.  Dani Rodrik, an Economics Professor at Harvard, suggests that we should think about trade in more nuanced terms.  His words are wise:

“….we need a better balance between national autonomy and globalization. In particular, we need to place the requirements of liberal democracy ahead of those of international trade and investment. Such a rebalancing would leave plenty of room for an open global economy; in fact, it would enable and sustain it.”

The political debates lose sight of this essential truth and do us all a disservice by not framing a useful discussion.

NBC News is reporting that the US is preparing to wage cyberwar against Russia in retaliation for Russian hacking of American political sites.  The CIA and other agencies have been instructed to gain access to Russian computers in order to make public information that would be embarrassing to Russian leadership, particularly Russian President Putin.  The most likely targets would be electronic records that would document offshore banking accounts held by Putin and his cohort.  Apparently President Obama has to give the final approval to the plan, but its primary purpose would be to send a message to the world that hacking into American computers would always invite retaliation.

The US has had soldiers in Afghanistan since October 2001 and the security situation in the country has yet to be stabilized.   The Taliban continue to mount offensives in the country although most of the population of the country is in government-controlled areas.  President Obama came into office vowing to end military operations in Afghanistan, but he will be handing the war off to his successor.  Indeed, President Obama will leave with the US involved in more wars than when he took office:  Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and, now, Yemen.