All The Monitor's View
- After a historic default, Argentina is a far cry from its past
In a world awash in red ink, Argentina’s reforms since 2015 show how attitudes can shift toward excessive debt.
- Defeating Islamic State by example
The liberation of ISIS’s de facto capital, Raqqa, must now lead to the city’s reconstruction and ensuring it becomes a model of democratic ideals.
- Amazon’s big competition could deliver for many cities
Only one location will be chosen as the online giant’s second headquarters. But all the contestants can use the process to think about how they will thrive in the future.
- Kneeling and shady dealing in sports
The NFL and NCAA face controversies, one over whether to engage with social issues, the other about a threat to the very idea of amateurism in sports. But both have the potential to result in progress for society.
- 'People power' for rule of law in the Philippines
The president’s use of extrajudicial killings of drug users has sparked popular resistance among those who prefer rule of law and presumption of innocence.
- One big reason ISIS lost the capital of its caliphate
Islamic State’s defeat in Raqqa was aided by the silent defiance of the city’s Muslims, who held fast to the liberty of conscience in religious belief.
- The battle of Kirkuk as a lesson on ‘self determination’
When Iraqi forces swept into the Kurdish-held city Oct. 16, they revealed the internal divisions among Kurds, and the challenges for many secession movements.
- The big hope behind the Iranian nuclear pact
As Trump punts a decision about the deal to Congress, Americans can look to trends among Iranians that might support the 2015 pact.
- After a steelmaker’s deception, steps to restore trust
A maker of vital metal products worldwide, Kobe Steel comes clean on making shoddy materials. Its corrective moves may help reverse a global decline in trust of companies.
- Latin America’s anti-graft earthquake
Mexico’s recent earthquake not only revealed corrupt building practices but stirred new campaigns for accountability. It is yet another example of a regional awareness that corruption need not be the norm.
- Liberating child soldiers as a path to peace
The UN reports progress in getting armed groups to end recruitment of children as soldiers. Such success often brings a side benefit: It can open a door for peace talks.
- A Nobel that awards a deeper view of human behavior
This year’s Nobel Prize for economics went to an American who challenged old theories about selfish interests driving prosperity. His work opens the potential for greater insights on the role of character in economics.
- Welcome the world’s newest welcome mat
Despite its own poverty, Bangladesh has allowed in more than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar in what is the world’s most urgent refugee crisis. It joins a list of a few other countries with a generosity toward strangers in need.
- Here’s a seed of hope for storm-struck Puerto Rico
Some places devastated by catastrophic storms learn to reinvent themselves, not merely recover. Puerto Ricans can look to one Kansas town leveled by a tornado.
- Take the gun debate to a shared level
Will another mass shooting alter the debate over gun laws? Not unless both sides deal with a common fear of gun violence and admit a mutual desire for community safety.
- Can the Supreme Court define political communities?
A court case on partisan gerrymandering will test if the justices want the courts, rather than voters, to define the identity of voting districts.
- The real lights of Vegas must shine on
Those tales of poise, sacrifice, and compassion after the Oct. 1 shooting are a necessary antidote. Americans must not mirror the evil motives behind mass violence.
- The start-ups in an upstart US economy
The US rose in a global ranking on competitiveness, in part because its innovation ‘ecosystem’ lessens fears for entrepreneurs.
- A different approach to curbing atrocities
The UN focus on Myanmar’s atrocities toward the Rohingya may need a new approach, one that speaks to the ‘ordinary virtues’ of the country’s majority.
- Saudi Arabia hands women the keys
Allowing women to drive cars signals the kingdom’s wider desire for an innovative, knowledge-based economy. Placing limits on women is not the road to such a goal.