project-syndicate

In a world of competing currency blocs, the euro is the dollar’s most credible rival. But for it to become a genuine counterweight to the greenback, the European Union must strengthen its financial foundations and expand its reach, starting with the member states that have not adopted it despite being obliged to do so.

In 2012, when Japan was dealing with chronic deflation, policymakers were right to embrace monetary easing, including lower interest rates. Today, however, Japan faces the opposite problem: a weak yen, combined with higher interest rates in the US, calls for a much tighter monetary policy.

Many governments have leverage to prevent atrocity crimes, yet lack the machinery to turn warnings into consistent, accountable action before it is too late. Now that three of the five permanent members of the Security Council are undercutting the postwar legal order, middle powers most close the gap.

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, women workers dominate agriculture but rarely capture the sector’s economic value. With a systematic approach to closing the gap, policymakers, NGOs, and philanthropic organizations could unlock a $1 trillion market and transform the continent’s food systems for the better.

Benjamin Netanyahu has led Israel into a trap in which ever-increasing strategic commitments are outstripping the productive base that finances them, and the goodwill on which its alliances depend is being destroyed. While a new government would not transform Israeli foreign policy, it could begin to drag Israel out of its morass.