[Robert J. Fouser] Globalization’s quiet resilience

Historians may look back at the winter of 2026 as a period of burgeoning new trade agreements after a year of US President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrums. On Jan. 17, the European Union and Mercosur, South America’s largest free-trade zone, signed a free-trade agreement, creating a market of 735 million people. On January 27, the EU and India signed an FTA, creating another market of 2 billion people. The EU also has existing FTAs with Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the UK, among others.

Feb. 6, 2026

[Peter Singer] When misinformation kills

Three people, including two children, died of measles in the United States in 2025. Their deaths were preventable. There were 2,267 confirmed measles cases in the US last year — more than seven times the 285 cases in 2024, and the highest number in more than 30 years. All these cases were preventable, too. So, why weren’t they? For two decades, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed as the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services last February, has promoted baseless theories

Feb. 5, 2026

[Helena Oh] KRW stablecoins, beyond crypto and into everyday payments

To date, stablecoins have functioned mostly inside an exchange-centered crypto ecosystem. Steps like signing up for an exchange, creating a wallet, copying an address, choosing a network, and checking gas fees may be second nature to digital-asset traders — but they are nowhere near an ordinary payment experience. As long as these steps remain prerequisites, stablecoins will struggle to become part of everyday life. A stablecoin is not simply another word for cryptocurrency. It is digital money

Feb. 5, 2026

[Wang Son-taek] How to make Carney’s appeal work

Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney’s recent speech in Davos, Switzerland, has attracted remarkable global attention. It has become a focal point for discussion among diplomats, policymakers and scholars alike. In an era defined by geopolitical uncertainty, such engagement itself is meaningful. Carney’s message, a forceful critique of America’s disruptive behavior, a principled defense of the liberal international order, and a call for greater responsibility from middle powers, speaks directly

Feb. 5, 2026

[Stephen Holmes] Trump kills US deterrence

The Trump administration’s new National Defense Strategy places “deterrence” at the center of America’s grand strategy. Deter China from dominating the Indo-Pacific. Deter threats to American access to Asian markets. (Taiwan, strangely, goes unmentioned.) The document rebrands alliance-shedding as “burden-sharing.” And by demanding that China stay out of the Western Hemisphere while insisting on total US access to the Indo-Pacific, it explodes the very concept of spheres of influence. The docume

Feb. 4, 2026

[Kim Seong-kon] 'Three unpardonable sins' in Korea

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s seminal novel “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester Prynne commits adultery with a Puritan minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Prynne’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, is presumed to be lost at sea while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. When she gives birth to a baby of unknown paternity, Prynne is sentenced by the Puritan community to stand on the scaffold for three hours in public humiliation and to wear a scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her life. “A” stands for “Adulteress,” but Hawthor

Feb. 4, 2026

[Grace Kao] What it’s like to buy BTS tickets in US

Last weekend, I hurt my wrists. I had trouble picking up a mug with my left hand, and my right wrist hurt a bit too. Believe it or not, BTS is to blame. I was part of the mad rush to buy BTS tickets for their upcoming world tour “Arirang.” For me, it caused disruption to my sleep, an elevated heart rate during the day of the presale, and tenseness in my arms and wrist from clicking and typing while trying to buy tickets. Some describe it as akin to the Hunger Games, and they would not be wrong.

Feb. 3, 2026

[Yoo Choon-sik] Kospi’s rally tests economic reality

South Korea’s benchmark stock index has nearly doubled since President Lee Jae Myung took office, recording the highest rate of increase among major stock markets around the world. If one were to assign credit for this surge, a significant share belongs to the Lee administration, which since its launch has moved quickly and decisively to implement policies welcomed by investors. Of course, this is not to deny the role of external factors. The acceleration of artificial intelligence adoption worl

Feb. 2, 2026

[Man-Ki Kim] Post-Davos recalibration: From intelligent collaboration to fragmented dialogue

The 2026 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos was held under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue.” The message was unmistakable: In a world marked by geopolitical tension, economic fragmentation and rapid technological change, dialogue has become indispensable. Yet for many observers, Davos 2026 felt less like a renewal of global cooperation and more like an acknowledgment of how deeply divided the international system has become. The contrast with Davos just one year earlier is strik

Feb. 2, 2026

The scissors at the BBQ table

I recently took a group of visiting friends to a pork belly barbecue restaurant. Most of them had been before. A few have become so adept at grilling that I now happily abdicate all table-side cooking responsibility, a small victory that brings me unmeasurable joy. But among us was a first-timer, and watching the evening unfold through their eyes reminded me how violent that initiation can be. Korean barbecue is not a meal so much as a controlled assault. The smoke, the heat, the grease-slick fl

Feb. 1, 2026

[Lee Byung-jong] Canada’s message for Korea

In the snowy Swiss resort town of Davos last week, a middle-power country punched above its weight against a superpower neighbor. Inviting a rare standing ovation from the audience, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a powerful speech at the World Economic Forum, blasting the US for causing “a rupture in the world order” through its predatory America First policy. Arguing that the rules-based international order the US has championed for decades is fracturing, Carney called for a coal

Jan. 30, 2026

[Wang Son-taek] Sacrifices for democracy of South Korea

The news of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan’s passing on Sunday has left me unable to steady my emotions for days. Many share my grief, probably because he was a national leader who served seven terms in the National Assembly and as prime minister. But I have an additional reason that cuts much deeper. He passed away at the age of 74, and it was too early to leave this world. I think his early death is related to his sacrifice for democracy and that is why I am so sad. Many people contributed

Jan. 29, 2026

[Christian Catalini] Every fintech has an AI question. Many are asking the wrong one

Fintech has spent the last fifteen years politely explaining that banks are software companies with a charter problem. Sometimes this is marketing. Sometimes it’s true. And sometimes it’s a reminder that the hardest part of financial services is not building an app -- it’s earning (and keeping) the right to touch other people’s money. AI makes that problem more acute, not less. The popular version of the AI story is that it’s a general-purpose technology that helps everyone. It writes code, summ

Jan. 29, 2026

[Jayati Ghosh] Gangster's-eye view of global power

There is a method behind the apparent madness of US President Donald Trump’s transactional, spheres-of-influence approach to geopolitics and the global economy. Nowhere has this logic been clearer than in his administration’s illegal abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and its ongoing efforts to secure control of the country’s oil reserves by installing a client regime. At the core of Trump’s revival of the Monroe Doctrine — or the “Donroe Doctrine,” as he has rebranded it — lies th

Jan. 28, 2026

[Kim Seong-kon] What does 'homeland' mean to us

Recently, I watched the Emmy Award-winning American drama series "Homeland" (2011-20) on Netflix with great enthusiasm. Initially, I was intrigued by the title because it had become a popular term in America in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Soon after 9/11, the US government launched the Department of Homeland Security and ratified the Patriot Act. Even in Korea, "homeland" has always been an important word that immediately evokes patriotism. I was enthralled by the recur

Jan. 28, 2026