Axel Trostenberg This year China’s economy is expected to recover, fueled primarily by a rebound in domestic demand. These improved near-term prospects offer an important opportunity for policymakers to refocus their efforts on achieving the country’s three long-term development objectives: to become a high-income country by 2035 through …

Fayeq Hijazin The audit report on the performance of the national economy under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) highlights positive outcomes both in terms of the program’s indicators and the external challenges faced by the Jordanian economy amidst global economic uncertainties. Maintaining macroeconomic stability in the face of …

Eng. Saleem Al Batayneh In recent years, the Arab world has been plagued by a recurring problem: the lack of a united front. While leaders like Sultan Abdul Hamid refused to sit at the table, Arab nations have often found themselves running to sit under it. The consequences …

Mara Warwick  Mara Warwick, now the World Bank country director for China, was the World Bank’s Wenchuan Earthquake Recovery Project (2009-2014) after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008 that claimed more than 69,000 lives and affected many parts of China. She also served as a …

Matthew Maavik The global infoscape is currently abuzz with alarmist predictions over the dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Billionaire entrepreneurs and their hirelings, who had once gushed over the emerging AI “technopia”, have suddenly turned apocalyptic. As the narrative du jour goes, a sentient AI may ultimately …

Every day, we hear about the onslaught of crises facing the world—from climate change to conflict, inflation and debt, and the ongoing recovery from a years-long pandemic. Add to them the prospect of slow economic growth, and our efforts to overcome these challenges seem rife with obstacles. For …

Professor Sergey Karaganov’s recent article brought into public focus the thorny issue of the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict. Many reactions to the piece boil down to the well-known reasoning that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and thus it cannot be …

Yi Wang The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, commonly known as the Summer Davos, was held in Tianjin, China from June 27 to 29 this year. The event brought together approximately 1,500 government officials, business leaders, and influential figures from diverse sectors …

Kester Kenn The internal disagreements and possibly deep-seated dissatisfaction between Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Wagner Group leader over the ‘special military operation’ are aspects of the geopolitical chess game. The unsuccessful military fight between the MoD, the Kremlin and the Wagner Group, at least, somehow ended …