The stockmarket bust may not yet be over, says Robert Shiller, while an oil price boom might spark a slowdown – or even a crash – in soaring house prices – Fluctuations in the world economy are largely driven by confidence. A changing level of public confidence is the ultimate driver behind much of the…

The media have been accused of undermining democracy. But, argues Richard Sambrook, an independent press is essential to freedom Democracy and the media – freedom of speech or a free press – have developed in tandem for more than 300 years. They are, in many ways, umbilically linked. If democracy began as the will of…

Despite arguments to the contrary, America’s current account deficit is a huge problem, says Kenneth Rogoff. But a decline in the dollar won’t solve it: a more sophisticated, multilateral, response is required – Will America’s latest public and private borrowing rampage, already more than a decade old, end in tears? Should we expect the gaping…

Global instability and burgeoning Asian demand have sent the oil price soaring, says Bill Richardson. America needs to calm the Middle East in the short term, find alternatives to oil in the medium term, and rejoin the international dialogue on climate change and energy use – The media tell different stories when they discuss Iraq…

Democracy today is in crisis. We need a radical new approach that is truly representative if the developing world is ever to have a proper say in global government, argues Saif Al Islam Al Qadhafi Government by the people and for the people remains a widely accepted definition of democracy. But it is an ideal…

The trial of Slobodan Milosevic is a step in the right direction. But without a show of political will, efforts to build an international criminal court will be jeopardized, says Carla Del Ponte – On February 12, 2002, for the first time in modern history, a head of state was brought before an international tribunal…

America and Europe have clashed over Iraq, climate change and the Middle East. But it is in both parties’ interests to work together, says John Peet Relations between America and Europe are always complex and difficult, with frequent trade disputes and differences on foreign policy matters. Yet for most of the past half-century the two…

The threat of terrorism is an excuse for political repression across central Asia. Yet without radical reform, argues Martha Brill Olcott, the region will fall prey to the extremism it has spawned A wave of violence rippled across the former Soviet Union in 1999. Bombs exploded in both downtown Tashkent and suburban Moscow, while guerrillas…

The benefit of eating organic food is not so much what it does for you, says Marion Nestle, but what it does for the environment Despite being a long-time analyst of the politics of nutrition, I must confess to a rather late interest in organic foods. Ironically, my epiphany came as a result of an…