Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Cuba’s ongoing political and social upheaval has shocked many observers as a sudden and intense summer storm. Across the island in small towns and provincial centers protests erupted like a squall line until reaching the capital Havana. Tropical storm “Liberdad” was lashing the Island of Cuba while its […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler It’s summertime and the living is easy, as the old song goes. And vacations both domestic and international should be surging despite dark pandemic clouds still shrouding parts of the world. But last year’s collapse in international tourism, seeing a decline by 74 percent in 2020, has still […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Amid pomp, pageantry and proletarian parades, China’s President Xi Jinping kicked off festivities celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CCP). The mass performances and political choreography, one of the things dictatorships seem to do so well, was held in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Dressed in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Dark clouds are shadowing Afghanistan as the final pullout of American forces from the beleaguered war-torn country continues, and the future darkens with the likely approach of a militant Taliban regime. Time is running out to “prevent a worst case scenario” as Deborah Lyons, the UN’s Special Representative […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Were there great expectations for the summit meeting in Geneva between President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin? Certainly not, but in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. president’s week of transatlantic diplomacy at the G-7 in Britain, and the NATO meeting in Belgium, a clear […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler European majorities seem troubled and deeply disillusioned over the ongoing COVID pandemic, which has turned into a crisis of confidence in the European Union, and equally stirred lingering doubts about the United States as a partner and ally. This gloomy assessment is reflected in a current poll which […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Economic growth is making a long-awaited rebound after the height of the global pandemic; yet the recovery is still shadowed by serious and ongoing concerns overactive Corona virus outbreaks and the danger of flareups on the international scene. Thus while “the global growth outlook has improved, led by […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Who would imagine that pipeline politics would be a defining feature of the new Administration? Pipelines after all are the ultimate infrastructure project; unseen, unsung, underground but exceedingly critical to moving fuel, gas or water. As pipelines are truly just under the surface, they somehow create some rarely […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Though Beijing is usually able to control or stifle the narrative inside the United Nations and many of its Committees, the oxygen of free speech on the taboo topic of human rights of China’s Muslim minority was able to seep through and be heard. During a “High Level […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler This didn’t have to happen. But blame toxic politics, the living legacy of the populist Peronist era, and the tipping point of the Corona pandemic, and you discover what is unraveling Argentina’s socio/economic fabric. Sadly, we see a resource-rich and formerly middle class country morphing into a tragic […]