[Robert J. Fouser] The shifting conversation about cities

As we move deeper into the 2020s, it feels like the 2010s are fading into history. Among the many trends of the 2010s, interest in cities boomed, sparking an “urban rediscovery” in much of the developed world. Slick magazines like Monocle and Kinfolk portrayed cities as hip playgrounds for in-the-know youth. In South Korea, conversational walks in older neighborhoods became a trend just as social media took off. Social media posts of retro streetscapes dotted with new cafes suddenly

ViewpointsNov. 17, 2023

[Jude Dumfeh] Is nuance possible in polarized world?

We humans are tempted to attack anything that appears foreign to us. As psychologist Abraham Maslow observed, when you have only a hammer, you’re inclined to look at everything as if it’s a nail. This unfortunate tendency often stems from a lack of nuance. Our world has become more polarized. We tend to see things in black or white, with little ability to handle shades of gray. It seems easy to stay in our silos and hurl attacks in other directions. An ability to see nuance, on the

ViewpointsNov. 16, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Remembering Lee O-young’s legacy

Almost two years have passed since Lee O-young, the great Korean thinker and eminent culture critic, sadly passed away. Last month, Minumsa published his last words in book form under the title, “Reading Lee O-young: Civilization, Culture, and Literature in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Life Capitalism.” In that book, Lee left some invaluable wisdom and insights to his readers who felt lost in the whirlpool of today’s shallow social atmosphere full of fake news and gra

ViewpointsNov. 15, 2023

[Daoud Kuttabo] Path for Gaza after a cease-fire

The Americans, the Israelis and the Palestinians are in a bind. No one knows who will govern Gaza after a cease-fire, when it comes. The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah is not willing to enter Gaza on the back of Israeli tanks and without the agreement of Palestinian fighters there. No one else will either. Jordan’s prime minister has categorically denied that his country would play such a role, and the same will hold for almost any other Arab or international forc

ViewpointsNov. 14, 2023

[Daniel DePetris] Pessimism is growing in Ukraine over its war with Russia

Last August, more than two months after Ukraine began its counteroffensive against Russian positions in the east, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan was asked about whether the war was degenerating into a stalemate. Sullivan’s answer: no. “We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate,” he said at the time. “We are seeing (Ukraine) continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis.” Fast-forward to today, and the cautious optimism cited by US

ViewpointsNov. 14, 2023

[Bobby Ghosh] No, Gazans can’t rise up against Hamas

“They could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’etat.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog ought to know better than to have said that. But those who don’t -- those who had no call to pay attention to Palestinian politics until a month ago -- might be forgiven for asking why Hamas has never faced a serious uprising from within their Gazan redoubt in the 17 years it has ruled the strip. That it has not allows some, in

ViewpointsNov. 10, 2023

[Doyle McManus] Make plan for ‘years after’ war ends

Last week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken headed for the Middle East to try to keep Israel's war in Gaza from spinning out of control, and to begin talks on what diplomats call "the day after" -- what happens after the shooting stops. Who will govern a shattered Gaza? Who will feed and house its refugees? Who will police its ravaged streets? And perhaps improbably, can the war, however brutal its toll, be turned into an opening for a wider peace? "When this crisis is ov

ViewpointsNov. 9, 2023

[Peter Singer, Charles Camosy] Definition of death: When do we die?

“What is it you don’t understand? She’s dead, dead, dead.” That is how David Durand, Chief Medical Officer of Oakland’s Children’s Hospital, attempted to convince the family of Jahi McMath that the standard medical tests for brain death had shown that their teenage daughter was no longer alive. The family stood firm in opposing this view, and the hospital eventually allowed them to take her to New Jersey, the only US state that requires hospitals to accommodat

ViewpointsNov. 9, 2023

[James Stavridis] What the US should do about Iran

I spent much of my professional life deployed forward in the Arabian Gulf and encountered Iranian naval forces there on many occasions. They were uniformly unprofessional, confrontational, and clearly seized with making life as difficult as possible for both legitimate merchant shipping and naval warships from the many nations with whom the Iranians have intractable differences. They are cowardly in the face of opposing military forces, but dangerous and unpredictable. As I watch the situation i

ViewpointsNov. 8, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] What we can learn from 'Terminator Genisys'

The 1991 American science fiction film, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” teaches us one valuable lesson: “Appearances are deceiving.” In the movie, a man in a police uniform is, in fact, a T-1000 advanced cyborg that is a ruthless killing machine. Conversely, the man dressed like a motorcycle gangster, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a good cyborg whose mission is to protect John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance against the Artificial Intelligence that t

ViewpointsNov. 8, 2023

[Antara Haldar] ‘Women’s economics’ goes mainstream

William Shakespeare’s 1597 comedy “Love’s Labor’s Lost” tells the story of four Frenchmen as they navigate the tension between commitment to intellectual development and the quest for domestic bliss. Some four centuries later, Harvard economist Claudia Goldin reimagined the tale from the vantage point of American women balancing career and family. Now, Goldin’s profound insights into women’s labor-market outcomes have won her a Nobel Memorial Prize in Ec

ViewpointsNov. 7, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] Has the West lost the Rest?

The images and news coming out of Gaza are so horrific that I cannot think of anything hopeful or constructive that can come of this cataclysm. Using Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members as a crude proxy for the West, it accounts for 63 percent of world GDP, three-quarters of world trade, over half of the world's energy consumption, and 18 percent of the world's population. The Western world sees itself as a paragon of civilizational progress and modernity, whe

ViewpointsNov. 7, 2023