The clock is ticking for Gulf economies to end their overreliance on fossil fuels, as more countries around the world pour resources into accelerating their transitions to green energy and a low carbon future. But a report released on Monday from credit ratings agency Moody’s found that despite Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states announcing ambitious plans to kick their crude habits, economic diversification efforts have yielded only “limited” results, and further progress could be held back by lower oil prices and too many blueprints targeting the same non-oil sectors. “While we expect the diversification momentum to pick up, it will…

When President Joe Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16, their most hotly contested issue may be Ukraine. Will the United States and its NATO allies decide to defend the country of 41 million from further Russian encroachments by making it the 31st member of NATO? For Mr. Putin, such action would cross a “red line.” Moscow took the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and its military supports rebels fighting in Ukraine’s eastern region. It wants to keep Ukraine in its geopolitical orbit. While the Biden administration says the U.S. backs “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” it’s…

The Middle East, North Africa and South-Central Asia are in chaos. Populations have been riven by sectarian civil war in what remains of the former states of Iraq, Syria, Libya and Mali, across to Afghanistan and down into the Arabian Peninsula. More than a million people have been killed. Tens of millions more have been displaced, resulting in the massive refugee crisis that afflicted Europe in the last decade. This is because the U.S. government has spent the last 20 years waging wars and interventions across these regions against an endlessly shifting series of enemies. They claim to be doing…

The island nation’s freedoms have lifted high-tech innovation, making China dependent on its electronic goods. An invasion would only set back the Communist Party’s goals. n its most threatening move yet against Taiwan, China flew the largest-ever number of military aircraft in a single day near the island nation on Tuesday. Beijing’s escalating attempts to intimidate the people of Taiwan with displays of force led The Economist magazine to declare in April that the island is the most dangerous place on earth. Yet a Chinese invasion has not happened. Why not? One reason may be other big news this week…

My mother, long before she died at age 92, ran through both Social Security and her retirement money. She wasn’t unusual: the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) estimates that, even with Social Security, some 40+% of us will run out of money in retirement.[1] Why does this happen to so many? Often it’s because there’s no savings plan where people work, or if there is, they don’t use it. The most effective way for people to save more is for them to be enrolled automatically in a payroll savings plan (from which they can opt out) and to require their employers to…