All The Monitor's View
- Trump’s ‘travel ban’ – the question of intent
A recent Supreme Court ruling sheds light on how much judges should look at possible bias in government decisions. Does Trump’s executive order on travel from six countries single out Muslims as a class?
- China’s source of creative growth
The country’s leaders call for more innovation to boost slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy, yet they show little faith in the creativity of Chinese researchers. Ideas can be discovered wherever there is freedom of thought.
- Ukraine’s suit of moral armor against Russia
The hot conflict in Ukraine has forced that country to seek legal help from the UN’s highest court. In a suit against Russia, it hopes to expose the truth about the Kremlin’s role in the killing of civilians in Ukraine.
- The integrity that roils South Korea’s corrupt
Clean prosecutors who honor equality before the law have been key to a probe of high-level corruption from the presidency to Samsung. A stronger democracy is South Korea’s core defense.
- An early test of Trump’s ‘America First’ at the UN
In its first confrontation with Russia, the Trump administration stands up for a long-held American value of protecting innocent life in conflicts.
- China’s honesty about its whopping debt
The ruling party admits its difficulty in reining in a credit-fueled economy with too many ‘zombie’ firms and a housing bubble. The truthfulness goes halfway toward making reforms than can drain the red ink.
- Norway’s model of prudence in oil wealth
As more nations set up funds for the money earned from natural resources or exports, many also adopt principles of transparency and accountability – and a concern for future generations. They should look to Norway, which runs the largest ‘sovereign wealth fund.’
- When a famine points to a deeper need
The UN issued its first famine alert in six years, citing starvation in war-torn South Sudan. While food aid is needed, this new African nation needs the reconciliation skills of its church leaders to end a long conflict.
- Who decides on US ground combat in Syria?
President Trump may soon seek to send foot soldiers to defeat Islamic State quickly in its stronghold. But he first needs buy-in from Congress.
- Meeting hate with love in St. Louis
The Muslim-Christian response to the vandalizing of a Jewish cemetery is yet another example of how the three faiths can use love to counter acts of religiously motivated hate and violence.
- Trump’s mixed message on immigration: An opening for a deal?
The president’s approach is both tough and flexible, a sign he may be open to a comprehensive solution with Congress to ease fears about US policy.
- In the most populous Muslim nation, a test of tolerance
Voters in Indonesia’s capital may elect a Christian as governor, perhaps sending a message to much of the Muslim world about a religious test for secular leaders.
- Romania’s lesson in public integrity
For weeks, protests against corruption have persisted in Romania because people now realize they hold the key to good governance.
- The UN’s step for justice in Syria
The United Nations has begun to collect evidence of war crimes in the Syrian conflict, a necessary step for eventual prosecution and the post-war healing of Syrian society.
- A lesson on UN peacekeeping – from Haiti
Security in Haiti has improved enough that the UN might soon pull out its forces. One reason: a novel approach to reducing neighborhood violence by listening to community concerns.
- Winning the hearts of Islamic State’s potential recruits
As it has lost ground, the militant group issued a strategy on ways for Muslims to operate as its online activists. The best counter strategy? Positive messaging.
- The West’s challenge: an ‘axis of fear’
Trump’s foreign affairs officials meet with other Western leaders for the first time this week. The big theme: the rise of voter fear in the US and Europe, reflected in nationalist politics. Germany’s leader has an answer for that.
- The call for citizens to ‘go local’
In both the US and EU, a populist backlash against centralized power has revived interest in local activism, which often comes with an ethical imperative for neighborliness.
- A simple truth about countering fake news
As the US and Europe try new efforts against Russian disinformation, they can learn how citizens in Ukraine have been equipped to embrace the truth.
- A model to mend Europe’s nationalist cracks?
Even as nationalist parties rise in Europe, the island of Cyprus is trying to end 43 years of division between ethnic Greeks and ethnic Turks. If a split Cyprus can unify, might it set an example?