International

Uncertainty—whether from financial crises, pandemics, geopolitical clashes, or sudden technological change—creates pressures that push governments and voters toward protectionist policies. Protectionism surfaces as a response to fear, political incentives, and strategic calculation. This article explains the forces that revive protectionism in bad times, illustrates them with historical and recent cases, examines economic mechanisms and consequences, and outlines policy options that can reduce the temptation to retreat behind trade barriers.Historical pattern and recent examplesProtectionism has long been more than a modern curiosity, exemplified by the 1930s Smoot-Hawley tariffs, when the United States raised duties to shield domestic industries, only to trigger…

Artificial intelligence is no longer a niche technical field; it is a core strategic instrument that reshapes economic power, national security, corporate advantage, and social outcomes. Nations and firms that control advanced models, vast datasets, and concentrated compute resources gain outsized influence. The dynamics of the AI era amplify preexisting strengths — talent, capital, manufacturing capacity — while introducing new levers such as model scale, data ecosystems, and regulatory posture.Financial implications and overall market sizeAI is a significant driver of expansion. While methodologies differ, prominent projections suggest that its worldwide economic influence could reach several trillion dollars before the decade…

Algorithmic systems now make or influence decisions across criminal justice, hiring, healthcare, lending, social media, and public services. When those systems reflect or amplify social biases, they stop being isolated technical problems and become public policy risks that affect civil rights, economic opportunity, public trust, and democratic governance. This article explains how bias arises, documents concrete harms with data and cases, and outlines the policy levers needed to manage the risk at scale.What is algorithmic bias and how it arisesAlgorithmic bias refers to systematic and repeatable errors in automated decision-making that produce unfair outcomes for particular individuals or groups. Bias…

Oceans serve as the world’s leading force in regulating climateThe global ocean covers roughly 71% of Earth’s surface and acts as the primary regulator of climate. It absorbs and redistributes heat and carbon, moderating atmospheric temperature swings, determining weather patterns, and sustaining life-supporting biogeochemical cycles. Two fundamental roles stand out:Heat storage: The ocean has absorbed most of the surplus heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions—widely assessed as exceeding 90% of the planet’s accumulated excess warmth—thereby tempering atmospheric temperature rises while introducing long-lasting thermal inertia that commits the climate system to future shifts.Carbon sink: The ocean takes in a substantial share…

The global response to plastics has produced partial wins and many persistent failures. Production continues to expand, waste systems are under-resourced, policy mixes rely heavily on voluntary industry action, and many proposed technical fixes do not address root causes. The result is a growing flow of plastic pollution, entrenched fossil-fuel linkages, and rising social and environmental harms—especially in low- and middle-income countries.Failure 1 — Production continues to rise while policy stays focused on end-of-life stagesThe discussion continues to lean heavily on waste handling and recycling even as the output of new plastics keeps rising. Global manufacturing now reaches hundreds of…

Biodiversity, encompassing the richness of life found in genes, species and ecosystems, is far from an abstract environmental notion reserved for researchers or conservation advocates. It forms the foundation for the products, services and stability that contemporary economies rely upon. When biodiversity erodes, repercussions spread through supply networks, strain public finances, disrupt corporate accounts and influence national security. Viewing biodiversity as an economic security concern shifts it from a conservation focus to a core pillar of both national and global economic stability.The connection between biodiversity and economic stabilityProvisioning services and supply chains. Biodiversity supplies food, timber, medicines, fibres and genetic…