Opinion

WASHINGTON One cause for Syria’s torments is that regional powers have used proxy forces to advance their position in the “great game” of influence, without regard for the effects on the Syrian people. An example is the standoff between two Syrian Kurdish militia groups. One, known as the YPG, appears to be tacitly backed by an odd coalition that includes …

  Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Athens appears economic at its face value, but it is also an attempt to demonstrate Moscow could move through its allies in Europe, notably Athens, to flout EU sanctions imposed by Brussels over Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. Putin is quite aware that Athens could play a role in restoring rapprochement with Brussels amid …

  Donald Trump has a personal problem with voters that transcends policy differences, partisan affiliations and political concerns: They don’t want him in their homes and aren’t eager to have their kids exposed to him. These are among the findings of an online poll of working-class voters in the Rust Belt. When asked which likely general election candidate would be …

It is no secret that Tibetan independence movements have long drawn the ire of Chinese authorities. Alongside heightened rhetoric in recent years over Tibetan unrest and the growing publicity of riots and self-immolations, China has sought to augment its capacity for crackdown in the restive province. The swiftness of Chinese response to previous swells of separatist sentiment is best illustrated …

  Ironic as it may seem considering his campaign platform, investors have welcomed the eight-point economic agenda of the incoming president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, in which he vowed to continue and maintain the current macroeconomic policies of the outgoing government. This is, by no means, a marked shift from his campaign promise, “Change is Coming,” under which he …

Dmitry Filippov SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS On May 6, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held an informal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the subtropical Russian city of Sochi. The three-hour talks concluded with both sides agreeing to streamline the negotiation process aimed at resolving their territorial dispute and concluding a peace treaty based on an undisclosed “new concept.” …

Perhaps the biggest reason Europe hasn’t produced digital economy giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook or Netflix is that there’s no such thing as “Europe.” Starting out in Sweden, France or Germany, a company is not European — it’s Swedish, French or German. Tax regulations, postal tariffs, financial systems, copyright, labeling and data protection rules — nothing is harmonized. Failing to …

WASHINGTON How many times have you heard that Americans’ wages have stagnated? Countless commentators (including me) have repeated this complaint. Naturally, politicians of both parties — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — deplore it. It’s conventional wisdom that wage stagnation has contributed to the sluggish recovery and the downcast attitudes of millions. But what if it’s not true? A new …

  The same tragic drowning scenario at the Mediterranean Sea keeps recurring as the illegal migrant flow continues unabated from sub-Saharan Africa to Libya, where they take perilous journeys using dilapidated dinghies to get into Europe but at a price. On Wednesday, the Italian navy captured the chilling images of a heavily overcrowded boat overturning off Libya, leaving at least …

  Narayana Kocherlakota The Federal Reserve’s track record of economic forecasting is a lot better than many observers recognize. It might also offer some insight into the central bank’s approach to managing the recovery. Criticism of the Fed’s forecasting has focused largely on its failure to recognize, as late as mid-2008, the depth and persistence of the recession that the …