When it comes to soft power, culture plays a crucial role in shaping attitudes and behavior, delivering more efficient and lasting results than other tools in the influence arsenal. American values were not enough to turn the course of the…
By rebranding itself as Meta, Facebook named itself an evil empire. It did so on purpose, and quickly enough to express its long-time motto, “Move fast and break things,” which, investors take note, is the antithesis of a long-term strategy.…
Last month, human rights organizations and many national legislatures commemorated the anniversary of the November 2019 protests in Iran and the crackdown that followed. The regime’s response included the murder of more than 130
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron, despite being preoccupied with next spring’s presidential election, dropped in on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to celebrate the conclusion of a massive sale of French military equipment to Saudi Arabia’s neighbor and…
Saudi Arabia and Iran have engaged in four rounds of talks over the last six months, the most recent of which with the hardliner Ebrahim Raisi already inaugurated as president. A fifth meeting is expected to take place before the…
Democrats are proposing the first-ever tax on corporate stock buybacks. Wall Street is yawning. Market veterans say the 1 percent levy lawmakers aim to include in their reconciliation package isn’t big enough to make a difference to most companies. “It’s…
Democrats are struggling with a huge problem that could sink them at the ballot box: They may end up looking more sympathetic to rich people than Republicans. After spending several election cycles campaigning against the GOP’s tax cuts as a…
Hedge fund billionaire and GOP megadonor Ken Griffin secured a copy of the U.S. Constitution this week with a $43.2 million auction bid that beat out thousands of crypto users who banded together to acquire the extremely rare first-run printing.…
An effective communicator with a questionable past builds a successful campaign as an outsider disinterested in everyday, run-of-the-mill politics. He smartly taps into the fears and anxieties of voters and projects himself as the only person who can fix the…
Kabul has fallen again to the Taliban. Surprisingly, so has the Panjshir Valley where the legendary Ahmad Shah Massoud defied both the Soviets and the Taliban. Even more surprisingly, India has stayed silent so far. It was in 1996 that…