analysis

As the war in Gaza nears the end of its second week, analysts say United States President Joe Biden is increasingly acting like a wartime leader, offering a “performative” show of strength and support for Israel.

William James, the famous American philosopher and psychologist, was nothing if not perspicacious. On one occasion, however, James discovered within himself an alarming moral blindness. The scion of an elite family whose childhood environs included New York City, Geneva and Paris, James was traveling in the mountainous countryside of North Carolina where, in the years just prior to the turn of the century, ordinary folks eked out a scant living from the land. Smaller trees had been razed and centuries-old giants girdled. Charred stumps, dead trees left standing and scattered clumps of Indian corn had taken the place of lush foliage. Crude log cabins littered the bare landscape. The author of the monumental “Principles of Psychology” instinctively shrank from what he saw. To James, the settlement was “a sort of ulcer, without a single element of artificial grace to make up for the loss of Nature’s beauty.”

Millions and millions of photographs have been taken of American presidents. But none like this. The mug shot of Donald Trump instantly became one of the most iconic images of anyone who served as commander-in-chief.

In May, the Senate lit up the AI policy conversation with two dueling artificial intelligence hearings: one on the use of AI in government and the other on AI oversight. Comparing the two, most have acknowledged their contrasts: The Sam Altman-led oversight hearing featured high drama (for the Senate, that is), while the relatively staid AI in Government hearing featured substantive policy proposals.

No Labels is toying with a risky idea. The centrist political group is considering running a third-party presidential “unity ticket” in 2024 with one Republican and one Democrat. It’s an intriguing idea—one that would theoretically appeal to Americans who feel abandoned by both major parties—but depending on who you ask, the plan is either a necessary last resort to pull the country back from the brink or a doomed strategy that will guarantee another four years of President Donald Trump. So which is it?

Donald Trump and his legal team are escalating efforts to discredit and delay a trial over his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election, as his fight to avert criminal convictions becomes ever more indistinguishable from his presidential campaign.

The Saudis are talking to the Iranians. Yemen’s Houthi rebels are talking to the Saudis. And the Yemeni government? Well, it does not seem to be talking to anyone.

The past 12 months have forced European leaders to seriously rethink their approach to national security. If Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has confirmed one thing, it’s that peace on the continent cannot be taken for granted. The status quo – decades of low spending and defense not being a policy priority – cannot continue.

From late February till now, the war in Ukraine has dominated the year’s news agenda like no other story. Even before Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, months of growing tensions hinted at the risk of a conflict in Europe. But, there was little sense of just how consequential and protracted the fighting would become.

Death and devastation are not the only calling cards COVID-19 will be remembered by. The pandemic has also drastically widened inequalities across the globe over the past three years.