New York Times (June 29)
The twin threats of “dangerous heat baking…the Southeast” and “the wildfire smoke filling the skies” in the Midwest “aren’t connected directly. But a common factor is adding to their capacity to cause misery. Human-caused climate change is turning high temperatures that would once have been considered improbable into more commonplace occurrences. And it is intensifying the heat and dryness that fuel catastrophic wildfires, allowing them to burn longer and more ferociously, and to churn out more smoke.”
Tags: Catastrophic, Climate change, Dangerous, Dryness, Heat, Human-caused, Improbable, Intensifying, Misery, Smoke, Temperatures, Wildfire, Wildfires
Bloomberg (November 6)
“For the US, China is a dangerous but distant challenge. For Japan, China is the existential danger next door.” Today, “the threat of Chinese aggression is producing a quiet revolution in Japanese statecraft — and pushing the nation to get ready for a fight.” Much of Japan’s ramp up is being done in the name of North Korea while Prime Minister Kishida, who was “once considered a dove,” is now successfully implementing policies “without provoking nearly as much blowback as the more polarizing Abe.”
Tags: Aggression, Blowback, Challenge, China, Dangerous, Distant, Dove, Existential danger, Japan, Kishida, North Korea, Polarizing, Quiet revolution, Statecraft, Threat, U.S.
New York Times (October 14)
Recent events have undermined the sunny view of globalization that long dominated Western policy. It’s now apparent that despite global integration, there are still dangerous bad actors out there — and interdependence sometimes empowers these bad actors. But it also gives good actors ways to limit bad actors’ ability to do harm.
Tags: Bad actors, Dangerous, Empowers, Global integration, Globalization, Harm, Interdependence, Sunny view, Undermined, Western policy
Fortune (September 24)
“Nowhere is this crisis more pronounced and more dangerous than in Europe, where a long-standing gambit on cheap Russian gas has backfired.” With winter, it looks certain to get even worse. “Even the slightest uptick in energy demand… could push entire sectors of Europe’s manufacturing industry to shut down entirely, devastating European economies with a wave of unemployment, high prices, and in all likelihood public unrest and divisions between European nations.”
Tags: Backfired, Cheap, Crisis, Dangerous, Devastating, Economies, Energy demand, Europe, Gas, High prices, Manufacturing, Pronounced, Russia, Unemployment, Uptick, Winter, Worse
Australian Financial Review (July 17)
“Oil has begun to drop back down this week to pre-invasion levels as traders brace for a sharp drop-off in consumption. But food price inflation remains stubbornly high.” Nevertheless, food prices remain largely off the radar. “The dramatic spikes in oil and mineral prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have distracted investors from the long-lasting and more dangerous impact of food inflation.” This has led BlackRock founder Larry Fink to sound the alarm on food inflation which also has profound geopolitical impacts.
Tags: BlackRock, Consumption, Dangerous, Distracted, Drop-off, Food, Impact, Inflation, Invasion, Investors, Larry Fink, Mineral, Oil, Pre-invasion, Russia, Spikes, Traders, Ukraine
Wall Street Journal (May 5)
“With China now an economic and military powerhouse, Taiwan’s lack of preparedness is increasingly dangerous. Taiwan’s economy is two-thirds larger than Israel’s, but Taiwan spends almost two-thirds less as a percentage of gross domestic product on defense.” Especially in light of Ukraine’s invasion, this has to change and just an extra percent of military spending could prove decisive. “Through the force-multiplying miracle of modern weapons, we can help make Taiwan a porcupine and deter aggression that could have profoundly negative consequences for Taiwan, China and the world.”
Tags: Aggression, China, Dangerous, Economic, GDP, Invasion, Israel, Military spending, Porcupine, Powerhouse, Preparedness, Taiwan, Ukraine, Weapons
Washington Post (April 15)
“The world has been understandably transfixed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine,” but we must still stay alert to threats elsewhere. “President Xi Jinping has been quietly taking advantage of the West’s distraction by expanding China’s sphere of influence in the South Pacific. If Washington doesn’t wake up to this threat, China’s efforts to dominate the region will gain dangerous and perhaps irreversible momentum.”
Tags: China, Dangerous, Distraction, Dominate, Horrific, Influence, Invasion, Irreversible, Putin, Russia, South Pacific, Threats, Transfixed, U.S., Ukraine, World, Xi
Wall Street Journal (December 6)
“Three potential crises are proceeding in tandem: a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, continuing Chinese pressure on Taiwan and the potential collapse of Iran nuclear talks.” Individually, any “of these standoffs has the potential to shake the world order and produce wider conflict. Taken together, they signal that the U.S. and its allies are at a dangerous moment.” Findings a way to successfully “show firmness on each front without provoking a crisis” will provechallenging.
Tags: Allies, China, Collapse, Conflict, Crises, Dangerous, Iran, Nuclear talks, Russian invasion, Standoffs, Taiwan, U.S., Ukraine
CBC News (June 29)
“Lytton, B.C., has broken the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada for a third straight day, hitting a scorching 49.6 C on Tuesday. The latest record was broken as a historic heat wave continues to scorch Western Canada, leading to a spike in sudden deaths in B.C. and dangerous wildfire conditions.”
Tags: 49.6 C, B.C., Canada, Dangerous, Heat wave, Historic, Hottest, Lytton, Record, Scorching, Spike, Sudden deaths, Temperature
The Economist (May 1)
Taiwan is now “the most dangerous place on Earth.” An extreme “exercise of high-calibre ambiguity has kept the peace” for decades, but that’s rapidly disintegrating as positions polarize. “America and China must work harder to avoid war over the future of Taiwan.”
