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Russia Intervenes in Syria
The four-year-long Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 200,000 people and forced as many as nine million to flee their homes, took a turn in September when Russia without warning began conducting airstrikes from bases in Syria. -
Britain Votes to Leave the European Union
Treat poll results with a grain of salt. That’s one of the lessons of Britain’s June referendum on leaving the EU. Polls (and the betting markets) all showed a narrow victory for “Remain.” Instead, Britons voted 52 to 48 percent for “Leave.” The vote highlighted Britain’s fundamental divisions: Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to Remain, as did younger, more educated, and more urban voters, while England, Wales, and older, less educated, and rural voters opted for Leave. -
Global Growth Picks Up
Ten years after the Great Recession started, global economic growth is accelerating and stock markets around the world are hitting record highs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in October that “The outlook is strengthening, with a notable pickup in investment, trade, and industrial production, together with rising confidence.” The IMF added the caveat that “recovery is not yet complete.” However, even cautious optimism has been in short supply for nearly a decade. -
Dire Warnings About Climate Change Mount
The world’s climate is changing and human activity is the cause. Scientists have been telling us this for more than three decades and evidence backs them up. But these warnings haven’t led us to change our ways. The emission of the heat-trapping gases that produce climate change continues to rise globally. -
The Amazon Burns
Mounting evidence that the planet is warming still has not galvanized global action. Brazil is a case in point. For decades, loggers and farmers have been clearing the Amazon rainforest and setting what’s left on fire in order to grow crops and graze cattle. The 80,000 fires set in 2019 were the most in a decade, and they burned an area about the size of New Jersey. -
The Killing of George Floyd
Racism has been called America’s original sin. But it is a sin that extends beyond the United States. On May 25, George Floyd, a forty-six-year-old Black man, was arrested in Minneapolis for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. One of the arresting officers kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and fifteen seconds, killing him. -
The COVID-19 Pandemic
Few people noticed when news emerged last December that China had begun monitoring the outbreak of a new pneumonia-like virus, or even on January 11 after China reported its first death from the disease. Nearly a year later, COVID-19 had changed life as we knew it. The World Health Organization estimated in October that as much as 10 percent of the world’s population had already contracted COVID-19; by year’s end some 1.7 million people had died from it. -
Supply Chains Falter
“Supply chains” became a household term in 2021. For decades businesses believed that outsourcing production was the key to success. That strategy worked: companies that honed their supply chains saw their costs drop and profits rise. -
Inflation Returns
Sometimes the good old days were not so good. The late 1970s are a case in point. Anyone who lived through those years experienced what it was like to see inflation eat through their paychecks. The inflationary spiral was broken only after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates and triggered a brutal recession. -
Prince Harry Publishes "Spare"
Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" goes on sale worldwide revealing controversial details of his upbringing and falling out with the British royal family