| | | | The Rest of the World Does Impeachment Better | | Impeachment is by no means uniquely American: "Since 1990, at least 132 different heads of state have faced some 272 impeachment proposals in 63 countries," The Economist writes, arguing there are better ways to do it. For one, impeachment can be easier to start: "In Tanzania, the president can be impeached if he has 'conducted himself in a manner which lowers the esteem of the office of president'. Honduran presidents can be impeached for incompetence. In Ghana, disrepute, ridicule or contempt of office suffice."
Some countries allow the judiciary to have final say before removing a president—"61 grant courts or constitutional councils this power"—and in others, like South Korea, removal of a president triggers new elections (rather than a vice president assuming office), which makes the process more akin to a no-confidence vote in leadership and allows political change to happen more quickly. "[A]s the process unfolds over the coming weeks, it may be worth remembering that it could be different," the magazine writes. "In many places, it is." | | The Populists Aren't Done Yet | | Britain's election supplies the latest evidence that populists aren't going anywhere, Peter Hartcher writes in the Sydney Morning Herald. They've successfully transformed center-right parties, after three big events—9/11, the 2008 financial crash, and Europe's 2015 refugee crisis, as identified by Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde—reshaped modern politics.
"Three years after Trump's election win, three years after the Brexit referendum, the right-wing populists of the Anglo-American condominium are winning and seem poised to keep winning," Hartcher writes, though they've been aided by an anemic left. And yet, if the US economy dips and Brexit proves catastrophic, Hartcher suggests populists' enticing yet unworkable solutions could be exposed. | | The US-China trade war has already expanded into technology, but is a financial war next? China may be preparing for one, Julian Gewirtz writes in Politico Magazine.
America plays a central role in global finance, and it has sought to weaponize that position, effectively isolating companies and individuals. Some Chinese experts have voiced concern about US "bullying," and Beijing may seek to lessen its dependence on the dollar-dominated system, Gewirtz writes; if things really flare up, the US could impose new rules on Chinese firms traded on US exchanges and start de-listing some of them.
China would have a long way to go, if it sought to rival the dollar payments system: "China accounted for more than 25 percent of global GDP growth in 2018, but its currency still makes up less than 2 percent of all assets held by central banks and only 1 percent of the international payments market," Gewirtz notes. That said, if the US uses its leverage to punish those who do business with Beijing, finance could become the next battlefield, and the rest of the world may have to pick sides. | | The World Made Huge Strides in the 2010s | | "The 2010s have been the best decade ever," Johan Norberg writes in The Wall Street Journal. Despite concerns about inequality, the gap in living standards has narrowed, Norberg writes, and poverty is down: "The World Bank reports that the world-wide rate of extreme poverty fell more than half, from 18.2% to 8.6%, between 2008 and 2018. Last year the World Data Lab calculated that for the first time, more than half the world's population can be considered 'middle class.'" Health, too, saw incredible strides, as the worldwide mortality rate for children under five "declined from 5.6% in 2008 to 3.9% in 2018." Annual deaths from natural disasters dropped, and rich countries are using less mined materials and fossil fuels.
Democracy's trend lines may be less encouraging, Norberg writes, but as the decade approaches its end, the 2010s have shown that "mankind creates faster than they can squander, and repairs more than they can destroy." | | | | | | |
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