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 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 […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler “Your papers Please,” has long been the customary greeting for people crossing borders, visiting many foreign countries, or sometimes even moving about cities under Covid “lockdown.” At its worst the question conjures up what I call the “Checkpoint Charlie” syndrome, crossing into East Berlin or back during the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler As events in Burma, aka Myanmar, continue to spiral into a dangerous descent of bloody civil conflict this strategic Southeast Asian nation has nearly reached a tipping point. Diplomacy is needed to defuse the crisis before it spins out of control with unpredictable consequences. Amid this sense of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Afghanistan’s forever war may finally be ending. President Joe Biden announced the impending troop pullout from the South Asian country amid largely but not universal bi-partisan support for ending a conflict which started in the wake of Al Qaida’s terrorist attacks on America on September 11th, 2001. Referring to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler A page has turned on the House of Windsor. Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died at 99 just short of his hundredth birthday. The long serving consort to the Queen has lived a notable and indeed remarkable, if sometimes controversial life. The Queen (94) […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, the world remains shocked and numb to the effects of this “once in a century” virus. Millions have already died, economies have been wrecked, and unemployment and despair is rife. Yet the panacea of vaccines is helping many countries at long […]