All The Monitor's View
- A starting list for the Peace Prize
Four world leaders stand out so far this year, showing how peace is possible and natural.
- A new style of leadership starts to reshape Mexico
Three months in office, President Obrador uses transparency and a bold vision to tackle deep problems.
- Why Ukraine may elect a jokester
A TV comedian who plays a humble, honest president is now the leading presidential candidate. His popularity says much about the unifying effect of humor.
- Europe's choice for clean governance
In choosing its first chief prosecutor, the EU must also confront one member, Romania, which is backsliding on corruption.
- What restrains India, Pakistan from nuclear war
Their ‘surgical’ retaliatory strikes on each other after a terrorist attack reveal a constraint driven by a firmer embrace of rules for protecting innocent life.
- Global quest for gene-editing rules
After a Chinese scientist created the first gene-edited babies, a UN agency rushes to set standards on the technique – based on values that don’t derive from genes.
- Hong Kong bars China’s notions of law
Unlike on the mainland, judicial independence is well entrenched in the territory. This explains the principled resistance to Beijing’s latest attempt to erode rule of law in Hong Kong.
- The pocketbook case for EVs
Electric vehicles have been thought of as only for the wealthy or environmentally conscious. But that thinking is being challenged by a coming new generation of affordable and earth-friendly cars.
- Helping minority youths dream beyond sports
Former President Obama and ex-NFL player Martellus Bennett are among those who want to lift stereotypes and limits off young black boys and men.
- Ode to joy, and peace, in Venezuela
Dueling concerts on either side of the border will highlight again the use of peaceful tactics by the country’s pro-democracy forces to oust a ruthless leader.
- Trump meets his Magna Carta
The many challenges to his use of emergency powers for a border wall are also a challenge to the steady rise in presidential power – and to the definition of leadership as only one-person rule.
- How Nigeria may raise the democratic bar
The Feb. 16 presidential election shows a new maturity in having issue-based campaigns and less politicking based on personality, ethnicity, religion, or geography.
- Restoring a high threshold for war
In trying to end the US role in Yemen’s war, Congress may finally be returning authority for war – and the protection of liberty – to itself.
- A surprise lesson after the Parkland shootings
In the year since the Florida school tragedy, the student activists had to learn not to see their policy opponents as ‘bad people.’ This shift toward listening may help shape the gun debate.
- Snowballing peace with North Korea
South Korea’s president can be credited for the small steps of peace leading up to the second US-North Korea summit. He may have created a virtuous circle of trust.
- The harsh light on Iran’s Islamic Revolution
The celebration of the revolution’s 40th anniversary was not focused on its weakest link: arbitrary rule by an unelected cleric. Iranians prefer other models, based on equality and freedom.
- A princess upends Thailand's old guard
In an election bid, the daughter of the late king sheds her royal rights and sends a signal about equality and individual sovereignty.
- Measuring victory over Islamic State
President Trump’s plan to declare victory over the militant group’s last stronghold rests on only one type of victory needed to end the roots of terrorism.
- A contest of butter vs. guns in Venezuela
The military’s blockage of foreign aid should not be countered by outside force. Democracy’s future there depends on peaceful means to win over the armed forces.
- Exit or grace for Virginia's governor?
The case of Gov. Ralph Northam and his past racist acts should compel the political parties to explore ways of justice that bring healing for victims, society, and the perpetrator.