Articles

A historic event occurred at the end of April: According to estimates from the United Nations, India, with more than 1.4 billion people, surpassed China in population. Many news stories noted this shift but actually undersold its significance by cautiously claiming that China has had the world’s largest population only for a few centuries. In fact, Jack Goldstone, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, tells me that evidence suggests China has been the world’s most-populous polity throughout recorded history — with records dating back more than 2,000 years.

In 2020, President Donald Trump hailed the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and two Arab states (the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain) as the “dawn of a new Middle East.” He was right, but not in the way he meant. Future historians are likely to see the accords as one of the first signs of an emerging post-American order in the Middle East.

The fate of Ukraine’s coming counteroffensive will hinge on the capabilities of its armed forces, but another factor will also be of great importance: the Ukrainians working diligently behind the scenes to supply the front-line fighters with the weapons and equipment they need to overcome the more numerous Russian invaders.

In early January, President Yoon Suk Yeol made news by suggesting that, with the North Korean nuclear threat rising, South Korea might want to build its own nuclear arsenal. After a domestic and foreign backlash, Yoon, who arrives in Washington this week, walked back that suggestion. But in March, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon — a prominent member of Yoon’s own party who is seen as a leading presidential candidate in 2027 — also raised the possibility of South Korea going nuclear. That option was backed, in a recent poll, by 77 percent of South Koreans.

I keep thinking about the comment that Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) made at the first hearing, back on Feb. 28, of the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): “This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century, and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake.” The committee chairman was right, but not in the way that he meant.

There hasn’t been much movement on the front lines of Ukraine since Ukrainian forces liberated the city of Kherson in early November. It’s easy to conclude that the war is at a stalemate pending the outcome of Ukraine’s widely expected spring offensive — which would benefit from even more Western support than it has been getting. While there might be an element of truth to that assumption, it also masks a lot of developments in the past five months that have been positive for Ukraine and negative for Russia.

Last week, facing massive strikes and protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put on hold his ill-advised plans for reform of the courts (which would effectively end judicial review of legislation). But the aftershocks of his so-far unsuccessful power grab continue to reverberate in Israel’s relations with its most important ally — the United States.