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  1. op_shafik2_ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_trumpvance Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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    World Order in a Time of Monsters

    Minouche Shafik

    A stable and cooperative global order cannot be built without first repairing broken national social contracts. While unequal and anxious countries become fertile ground for nationalism and selfishness, prosperous economies are more likely to foster generosity and support for international cooperation.

     highlights the critical importance of reinvigorating social contracts at the national level.
  2. bp deepseek Photo illustration by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
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    Why Does DeepSeek Matter?

    Featured in this Big Picture

    PS editors, Daron Acemoglu, Charles Ferguson, Angela Huyue Zhang, Amar Bhidé

    Chinese tech startup DeepSeek’s release of a high-performance, low-cost artificial-intelligence platform has roiled financial markets and raised fundamental questions about the business models of American AI giants. Will the technology turn out to be a boon for competition in a critical industry, or should it be viewed as a geopolitical shot across the West’s bow?

  3. cferguson4_Patrick T. FallonGettyImages_jensen_huang Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images
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    The Crisis in Western AI Is Real

    Charles Ferguson thinks the US industry bears a considerable share of the blame for China’s DeepSeek breakthrough.
  4. mazzucato79_Artur WidakNurPhotoGettyImages_amazon_web_services Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images
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    Resisting Digital Feudalism

    Mariana Mazzucato calls for urgent action to shape the development of AI before it becomes another means of rent extraction.
  5. delong267_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_whitehousepress Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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    Trump’s Smoke and Mirrors

    J. Bradford DeLong upbraids US journalists for refusing to distinguish bluster from genuine policy initiatives.
  6. landau5_Thierry MonasseGettyImages_eu_competitiveness_compass Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
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    Europe Found Its Values and Lost Its Way

    Jean-Pierre Landau warns that the EU’s focus on high-level principles is undermining its economic dynamism and global influence.
  7. rodrik231_Andrej IvanovGettyImages_us_canda_border Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images
    1

    How Not to Respond to Trump’s Tariffs

    Dani Rodrik advises America’s trade partners not to embrace retaliation, because that would harm mainly themselves.
  8. varoufakis124_Luke SharrettGettyImages_palantir_demo Luke Sharrett/Getty Images
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    Technofeudalism Is War’s Handmaiden

    Yanis Varoufakis explains how the rise of cloud capital is steering the world toward well-known strategic traps.
  9. singer239_Andrew HarnikGetty Images_americafirst Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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    “America First” in Action

    Peter Singer assesses the damage Donald Trump has already done to long-term US interests since returning to the White House.
  10. PS Events: AI Action Summit 2025
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    PS Events: AI Action Summit 2025

    Don’t miss our next event, taking place at the AI Action Summit in Paris. Register now, and watch live on February 10 as leading thinkers consider what effective AI governance demands.

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PS Quarterly

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The Year Ahead 2025 magazine

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Latest

  1. Developing Countries Need a New Approach to Long-Term Financing
    hampton2_Luis TatoGettyImages_somalia_debt_crisis Luis Tato/Getty Images

    Developing Countries Need a New Approach to Long-Term Financing

    Feb 7, 2025 Hannah Wanjie Ryder & Kate Hampton propose reforms that would facilitate low-interest lending to fund critical climate and development goals.

  2. Trump’s Smoke and Mirrors
    delong267_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_whitehousepress Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Trump’s Smoke and Mirrors

    Feb 7, 2025 J. Bradford DeLong upbraids US journalists for refusing to distinguish bluster from genuine policy initiatives.

  3. Why Does DeepSeek Matter?
    bp deepseek Photo illustration by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

    Why Does DeepSeek Matter?

    Feb 7, 2025 PS Commentators consider the implications of the Chinese startup’s apparent AI breakthrough.

  4. Resisting Digital Feudalism
    mazzucato79_Artur WidakNurPhotoGettyImages_amazon_web_services Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

    Resisting Digital Feudalism

    Feb 7, 2025 Mariana Mazzucato calls for urgent action to shape the development of AI before it becomes another means of rent extraction.

  5. World Order in a Time of Monsters
    op_shafik2_ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_trumpvance Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

    World Order in a Time of Monsters

    Feb 7, 2025 Minouche Shafik highlights the critical importance of reinvigorating social contracts at the national level.

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OnPoint is our suite of subscriber-exclusive content. Get long-read commentaries, thematic deep dives, interviews with world leaders, and much more. Learn more.  

  1. op_shafik2_ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_trumpvance Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    World Order in a Time of Monsters

    Minouche Shafik

    A stable and cooperative global order cannot be built without first repairing broken national social contracts. While unequal and anxious countries become fertile ground for nationalism and selfishness, prosperous economies are more likely to foster generosity and support for international cooperation.

     highlights the critical importance of reinvigorating social contracts at the national level.
  2. op_pei3_Hulton-Deutsch CollectionCORBISCorbis via Getty Images_zhouenlai Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images
    0

    The Tragedy of Zhou Enlai

    Minxin Pei reflects on the complicated life and legacy of the renowned diplomat who was Mao Zedong’s dutiful lieutenant.
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    3

    Yi Fuxian on China's decision-making, economic prospects, demographic crisis, and more

    Yi Fuxian warns that China's government and mainstream analysts are still underestimating the severity of the country's demographic crisis, identifies some of the gravest policy mistakes Donald Trump's administration is at risk of making vis-a-vis China, explains why China’s middle class will never be strong enough to bring about a democratic transition, and more.
  4. op_bivens1_JIM WATSONAFP via Getty Images_bidenworkers Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
    6

    America’s Workers Are About to Be Forgotten Again

    Josh Bivens & Heidi Shierholz contrast the Biden administration's pro-worker policies with what Donald Trump is likely to do.
  5. op_janeway17_Natalya KosarevichGetty Images_moneyhandslightbulb Natalya Kosarevich/Getty Images
    2

    False Economies

    William H. Janeway highlights the high cost of the single-minded focus on efficiency that has come to dominate the discipline.
  6. bq trump institutions Photo by Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images
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    Can US Institutions Withstand Trump 2.0?

    Featured in this Big Question

    Daron Acemoglu , Bruce Ackerman , Aziz Huq , Alison L. LaCroix , Richard K. Sherwin

    While some observers doubt that US President-elect Donald Trump poses a grave threat to US democracy, others are bracing themselves for the destruction of the country’s constitutional order. With Trump’s inauguration just around the corner, we asked PS commentators how vulnerable US institutions really are.

The world’s diplomatic, political, and economic divisions continue to harden – both between countries and within them. Whereas 2022 and 2023 featured a war of attrition in Ukraine, we have since entered a broader world of attrition, with zero-sum conflicts multiplying across the board.

Learn more
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Sustainability Now brings together leading voices in all of the domains involved in combating climate change, each addressing specific facets of the challenge.

Sustainability Now is brought to you in part by:

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  1. perincek1_RODGER BOSCHAFP via Getty Images_africarareearthmine Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
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    Ensuring Europe’s Supply of Critical Minerals

    Rüya Perincek & Andreas Goldthau call for coordinated funding, resource diplomacy, and secondary material partnerships to boost recycling.
  2. wagner31_Westend61Getty Images_climatependulum Westend61/Getty Images
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    The Climate Policy Pendulum

    Gernot Wagner notes that green technologies retain their many advantages, regardless of national political developments.
  3. barral1_CARL DE SOUZAAFP via Getty Images_brazilsolarpower Carl de Souza/AFP via Getty Images
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    What Climate Justice Means for Latin America and the Caribbean

    Thiago Barral & Woochong Um urge policymakers to work with key stakeholders to accelerate the uptake of renewables.

Opinion that Moves

  1. Mariana Mazzucato Resisting Digital Feudalism
  2. Dani Rodrik How Not to Respond to Trump’s Tariffs
  3. Willem H. Buiter, et al. The Positive Case for Negative Rates
  4. Carla Norrlöf Tariff Man’s Risky Bet

  1. Jean-Pierre Landau Europe Found Its Values and Lost Its Way
  2. Ian Buruma Breaking US Democracy Beyond Repair
  3. Chris Patten Can the Liberal International Order Survive Without America?
  4. Melissa Parke The Case for Abolishing Nuclear Weapons

  1. Peter Singer “America First” in Action
  2. Daniel M. Franks, et al. Africa Needs Mineral Security, Too
  3. Jayasree K. Iyer Climate Displacement Is Also a Health Crisis
  4. Pascal Lamy, et al. The Key to Narrowing the Development Gap

  1. Rim Berahab, et al. How to Make Carbon Pricing Work for Africa
  2. Ana Toni How to Make COP30 a Climate Turning Point
  3. Stuart P.M. Mackintosh The Fed Is Running Scared of Trump
  4. Rüya Perincek, et al. Ensuring Europe’s Supply of Critical Minerals

  1. Charles Ferguson The Crisis in Western AI Is Real
  2. Yanis Varoufakis Technofeudalism Is War’s Handmaiden
  3. Angela Huyue Zhang Will DeepSeek Upend US Tech Dominance?
  4. Daron Acemoglu A Sputnik Moment for AI?

  1. Slavoj Žižek Fundamentalist Perverts
  2. Ian Buruma Ukraine’s Existential Culture War
  3. Helen Prejean An Injustice That Biden Can Still Set Right
  4. Peter Singer Australia’s Great Social-Media Experiment

Africa’s economic rise is a world-changing development, but the sources of its emerging strength – and lingering weaknesses – are little understood. W…

  1. Daniel M. Franks, et al. Africa Needs Mineral Security, Too
  2. Rim Berahab, et al. How to Make Carbon Pricing Work for Africa
  3. Pascal Lamy, et al. The Key to Narrowing the Development Gap

Today’s media landscape is littered with landmines: open hostility from illiberal and autocratic regimes, mounting censorship in countries such as Hungary, Turkey,…

  1. Karen Rønde Danish Media’s United Stand Against Big Tech
  2. Robin Berjon Social Media as It Should Be
  3. Katrin Kivi The Case for Press Freedom Just Got Stronger

As the COVID-19 crisis escalates, PS commentators assess its implications for the economy, propose policy responses, and consider what might – and sho…

  1. Jan-Werner Mueller Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political Legacy
  2. Brahma Chellaney Will Trump Crack the Mystery of COVID’s Origin?
  3. Antara Haldar COVID’s Lessons Have All Been Forgotten