Fair Observer
Fact-based, well-reasoned perspectives from around the world
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Latest posts
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FO Podcasts: Is Canada Looking to Form an Alliance With Europe?
Fair Observer Editor-at-Large Ranjani Iyer Mohanty speaks with former Canadian Diplomat David McKinnon about Canada’s proposed closer relationship with the European Union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s September 16 invitation to explore associate…
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The Luxury of Discussion: AI, Power and the Illusion of Open Debate — Part 1
Last week, BBC News broadcast a discussion by a panel of experts centered on the question of AI technology’s impact on society. An entry in its AI Decoded series entitled, The end of data centres? Apple and Meta’s bet against the cloud, the discussion focused on the three models…
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After Coalition Withdrawal, Iraqi Kurds Want More Protection
On September 30, the US-led international anti-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) coalition completely left the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The coalition, formed in 2014 to fight ISIS, enacted the withdrawal as part of a two-phase plan agreed on in September 2024 by the Biden…
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In the Age of Social Media, Are Our Feelings a Blessing or a Curse?
We are strange creatures. The mystery of feeling — whether pleasure or pain — shapes much of our lives. Yet in an increasingly distracted world, we often find ourselves moving further away from emotional honesty. Rather than sitting with discomfort, modern life offers endless…
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Presidential Runoff in Bulgaria: What Is at Stake?
On October 25, the first round of the presidential elections in Bulgaria took place. Incumbent President Iliana Yotova came first, supported by the governing Progressive Bulgaria party led by Prime Minister Rumen Radev. While she may have hoped for an absolute majority, with…
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Rubio’s Greece Speech and the Relics of a Past That Never Was
On October 7, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a civilizational speech about the West. The Athens Acropolis was in the background, emphasizing his words’ meaning. Although Rubio’s address represented a counterbalance to US Vice President JD Vance’s Munich speech,…
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Premier League Crisis: A Disaster for Britain?
For the past six or seven decades, Britain has produced an impressive succession of people and institutions, both real and fictional, that have awed the world: The Beatles. Margaret Thatcher. Princess Diana. Harry Potter. The BBC. The Premier League. These names have become…
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The Socialism of Fools: Populism and its Dirty, Persistent Problem
In August 2017, marchers carrying torches through Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted “Jews will not replace us,” built on the conviction that a hidden hand was engineering demographic change to erase white America. Three years later, Britain’s national equalities watchdog…
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Lula’s Historic Comeback in a Rightward-Shifting Brazil
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has once again rewritten Brazil’s electoral history. At 80, the historic leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) has become the first Brazilian president to win four presidential elections. His October 25 victory was also unprecedented: Since Brazil’s return…
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We Will Never Forget the Brazilians Who Did It, nor the Brazilians Who Supported Them
For 21 days, we feared waking up to a Brazil that the citizenry handed over to our worst members. We narrowly escaped, not because there were too few people willing to push us over the edge, but despite them. And no one can claim they didn’t know. For 21 days, I lived with a…
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Diana: Death Becomes Her
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs,Gives her fame which never dies.— Much Ado About Nothing Swan Song: Diana, My Sister may be the greatest book written about Princess Diana. This year. Countless other books on the same subject have seen publication over the 29 years since Diana…
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Money, Expectations and Institutions: Revisiting Milton Friedman
American economist and statistician Milton Friedman died in 2006. His major work, Capitalism and Freedom, was published in 1962, and his landmark paper The Role of Monetary Policy appeared in 1968. To state the conclusion up front: The value of reading Friedman today does not…
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FO Talks: Building a Civilization That Works for All
Fair Observer’s Communications and Outreach officer, Roberta Campani, speaks with author Jeremy Lent about ecological civilization, a framework for organizing society around the flourishing of life. Drawing on systems science, history and economics, Lent challenges the…
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From Import Dependency to the People’s IPO: The Dangote Refinery Paradigm
Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest man and stands among the top global business titans. My first encounter with his market influence dates back to the early 2000s, when my mother was involved in cement distribution. Over a remarkably short period, Dangote Cement evolved from a…
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Indonesia Faces a Middle East Oil Shock and a Crisis of Trust
Prabowo Subianto marked two years as Indonesia’s president on October 20. At the same time, oil prices pushed up by the Middle East conflict are draining the state budget. Drivers in Bali waited for hours to buy petrol last week, and on October 16, the Jakarta stock market had…
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Alice in Threatland: The Gray Lady in the Rabbit Hole
Even though I’ve spent years highlighting The New York Times incestuous dependence on the CIA and the State Department, there are moments in my experience of its journalism when annoyance is replaced by existential fear. The latest contribution by the “newspaper of record” to…
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FO Talks: The End of Unipolar Power? How Türkiye Shapes Geopolitics
Fair Observer’s Chief Strategy Officer Peter Isackson, Editorial Assistant Alexandros Ouzounis and former Swiss diplomat Jean-Daniel Ruch discuss Ankara’s growing geopolitical influence. They examine relations with Europe and Israel, Kurdish reconciliation and maritime disputes.…
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Syria’s Democratic Transition: Building Institutions Alongside Political Competition
Nearly two years after Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024, Syria faces a question that may appear simple but is not: When should political parties become the main vehicles of political competition? The 2025 Constitutional Declaration, which sets out a five-year transitional…
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Why Are Countries Building New Global Networks?
For nearly eight decades, global governance rested on a simple assumption: that universal institutions such as the UN, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could tackle international problems. Designed in the aftermath of the Second World…
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Entrenched US and Iranian Strategies Make Renewed War Inevitable
US President Donald Trump’s rejection of Iran’s proposal to conditionally open the Strait of Hormuz is no surprise. In fact, Iran likely expected Mr. Trump to reject it, although the Islamic Republic sweetened the proposal by envisioning a quick return of relatively free…