All The Monitor's View
Praise for Panama’s shift to honest businessThe Central American country, once a major haven for tax evaders, has quickly joined the global campaign for transparency between countries in declaring foreign assets. It deserves more gratitude for a swift change of heart.
Africa’s challenge to universal justiceSouth Africa, Gambia, and Burundi plan to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. While disappointing, their move cannot end the steady progress to establish universal ideals and norms of justice.
The task ahead for the 2016 election winnersThe American political mood is dark and pessimistic just now. This will force those elected in November to listen even more to those they oppose. What they find may surprise them.
Why 10-year-old girls can lift the worldA new UN report highlights how investments in girls at that critical age can do the most for global prosperity. This focus on their potential is a welcome change from simply highlighting their problems.
After this election, Americans can ‘wake up’ as oneThanksgiving arrives only days after the end of a divisive 2016 election campaign. The holiday’s virtues of humility and gratitude must help bring consensus and harmony.
When rule of law rules the roostA ranking of countries on their rule of law helps highlight the world's ongoing need for equality in justice. Yet just as important is raising the integrity of prosecutors as well as all citizens.
The new global view of citiesThe latest UN summit on cities revealed a big shift in thinking: Urban areas are seen as less a sea of woes and more a source of solutions for global problems. No wonder more people seek city life.
Ending modern wars driven by ancient wrongsSouth Korea’s leader has asked her people to end their ‘victim mentality’ about past big-power aggression. It was a call that might help other countries whose aggressive ways are driven by a lingering victimhood over ancient grievances.
Why more American teens succeedGraduation rates are at a record high, a result of many educational reforms and social trends. But also more students may be excelling by finding inspiration in ‘identity projects.’
In the battle for Mosul, Islamic State is its own worst enemyThe group’s savagery and missteps – toward Muslims – have created discontent and weakened its grasp from within. With an ideology based on hate, IS can only implode.
A famine crisis that’s also a test for NigeriaThe world is only waking up to an acute food shortage in Nigeria, caused by the Boko Haram turmoil. Nigerians can also respond better, while raising their confidence in dealing with other woes.
US strikes in Yemen: a trigger for peacemakingYemen’s civil war now has global dimensions – in its civilian casualties, a near-famine, regional escalation, and a direct US attack inside a pivotal country on the Arabian Peninsula. The US bears further responsibility to be a peacemaker.
The justice route to end Syria’s warRussian bombing of Aleppo has led France, Britain, and the US to call for a war-crimes investigation. The prospect of Russian leaders being prosecuted by a tribunal might give them an incentive to make peace. A tribunal would also help heal a postwar Syria.
Why peace hopes endure in ColombiaA proposed peace deal with rebels failed at the polls, but the pact’s main supporters – victims of Colombia’s long war – know that forgiveness lies at the heart of peacemaking.
Russia’s cyberattack: an opening for a pactNow that the US has blamed Russia for hacking the Democratic Party, it should use the attack to build a consensus among nations for a code of conduct in the digital universe.
Hospitality marks the next UN chiefThe Security Council’s choice for the next UN secretary-general, António Guterres, is someone at the center of a global crisis: refugees. He has witnessed the generosity of host countries and is primed to further the caring of the uprooted.
What breaks a cycle of high debt/low growthThe world’s over-indebtedness is a large reason for slow economic growth. Yet at least one nation, Jamaica, has shown how to swim out of its red ink. But it took unusual cooperation and openness.
Why the tweet #prayfor has staying powerAfter major tragedies, social media lights up with calls for prayer. One reason, based on a new survey: A majority of Americans rely on prayer in the hope for healing, finding ‘God in that space.’
The cool breezes on Asia’s hot spotsThe latest India-Pakistan violence, along with tensions over aggressive moves by North Korea and China, might not escalate in the face of global trends that have set common values and norms of behavior.
Why some cities thrive as economic enginesIf the US election is about raising and broadening economic growth, then candidates must look at why certain cities thrive as innovators – and then help other cities do the same. One key: civic trust.
