news

【uk】the economist, august 31

why sudan's war is the world's problem

sudan’s war has received very limited attention compared to the wars in syria and libya, yet it has the potential to be more deadly than either conflict. africa’s third-largest country is burning, its capital has been razed to the ground, 150,000 people may have been slaughtered, and bodies are piled up in makeshift graveyards. the country could become a haven for terrorists or a foothold for other forces eager to create chaos. if sudan descends into permanent anarchy, it could further jeopardize the operation of the suez canal, which carries one-seventh of world trade between europe and asia. unlike the darfur crisis in the 2000s, today’s american officials seem too busy dealing with china, gaza, and ukraine, and western public opinion is unfamiliar with it. the un security council has failed to play its due role, and long-delayed ceasefire talks in geneva have made no progress. farms and crops have been burned in sudan, and people have begun to eat grass and leaves. if food shortages continue, according to a dutch think tank that simulates crises, 6 million to 10 million people will die of hunger by 2027.

[germany] der spiegel, august 31

terrorist attack in solingen and failure of asylum policy

last friday evening, a knife attack occurred at a celebration of the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of solingen. the suspect was a syrian refugee who was supposed to be deported in june 2023. germany is panicking about this. in an interview with der spiegel, scholz expressed understanding of people's disappointment. ten months ago, der spiegel interviewed scholz, when he said: "we need to finally deport on a large scale those who have no right to stay in germany." so far, we have seen almost nothing. scholz believes that a lot has changed. he has promoted changes that would have been impossible for many years in fierce political struggles. for example, the police can now look for people who are about to be deported in refugee centers; anyone who is about to be deported can now be detained for four weeks instead of just 10 days; german border controls have also been strengthened. all this has had an effect: the number of asylum applications in germany in 2024 has dropped by one fifth, and the number of deportations has also increased. in addition, scholz said: "the terrorist attack in solingen is an attack on germany's open society. we must never allow this to happen. germany is a country of immigrants. at least one in five citizens here has a history of immigration. this means that without energetic immigrants from abroad, germany would never have achieved such prosperity. this has been the case in the past and will be even more so in the future. we need immigrants. as a government, we have created the necessary conditions for this through citizenship and immigration laws. what we cannot accept is irregular immigration of people who have no right to asylum. we can choose who to allow and who not to allow."

【us】foreign affairs, september/october

the dangers of isolationism

former us secretary of state condoleezza rice published an article in foreign affairs discussing the role of the united states in today's world, emphasizing the necessity of the united states for the world and the importance of the world to the united states. she pointed out that today's united states has dominated the international order for nearly eight decades, some of which have been successful and some of which have been seen as failures. the american people have lost confidence in national institutions and have doubts about the feasibility of the american dream. in order to rebuild faith, schools and colleges need to change their curriculum, provide a more balanced perspective on american history, and encourage healthy debate rather than reinforce existing views. populist, nationalist, isolationist and protectionist rhetoric is shaking the political center. the united states can and should resist this tendency, but this requires portraying a picture of the world without the active participation of the united states to the public, so that people are aware of the serious consequences of isolationism. after 9/11, countries around the world united to fight terrorism, but after the outbreak of the epidemic, countries took unilateral actions and globalization lost momentum. as the rift between the united states and its allies and china and russia deepens, economic integration has given way to a zero-sum competition for territory, markets and technology. despite this, it is hoped that mankind can learn lessons from history and avoid repeating the same mistakes.