International

A high-level leadership transition within Israel’s intelligence community is unfolding amid ongoing tensions with Iran. Early expectations about the conflict’s outcome have not materialized, raising questions about strategy, decision-making, and the future direction of regional security policies.A significant transition is underway within Israel’s intelligence apparatus at a time when the country remains deeply engaged in a prolonged and complex confrontation with Iran. At the center of this shift is the upcoming appointment of Roman Gofman as the new head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency. His arrival comes after weeks of continued hostilities that have not delivered the swift political…

Global supply chains are larger and more connected than ever, yet they regularly feel brittle. Disruptions that once would have been localized now ripple across continents. That fragility is not just a series of bad events; it is the product of structural choices, changing risk landscapes, and incentives that prioritize cost efficiency over redundancy. Understanding why requires looking at concrete disruptions, systemic drivers, and the realistic trade-offs firms and governments face when trying to harden supply lines.Prominent upheavals that revealed vulnerable pointsCOVID-19 pandemic: Factory shutdowns, labor shortages, and demand swings in 2020–2022 caused shortages across medical supplies, electronics, and consumer…

Accurate emissions accounting is the foundation of effective climate policy, corporate climate strategies, and investor decision-making. When emissions are misstated, omitted, or double-counted, the result is not merely technical error: it warps incentives, delays mitigation, misdirects finance, and erodes public trust. Below I explain how and why poor accounting matters, give concrete examples and data, and outline practical fixes.What good emissions accounting is supposed to doGood accounting should consistently capture greenhouse gas (GHG) sources and sinks, assign roles across stakeholders and actions, monitor advancement toward established goals, and support claims that can be compared and independently validated. Achieving this depends…

Uncertainty—whether from financial crises, pandemics, geopolitical clashes, or sudden technological change—creates pressures that push governments and voters toward protectionist policies. Protectionism surfaces as a response to fear, political incentives, and strategic calculation. This article explains the forces that revive protectionism in bad times, illustrates them with historical and recent cases, examines economic mechanisms and consequences, and outlines policy options that can reduce the temptation to retreat behind trade barriers.Past patterns and more recent examplesProtectionism is far from a recent oddity. The 1930s Smoot-Hawley tariffs stand as a defining illustration: the United States boosted duties in a bid to protect local…