Author Archives: timwferguson

Any roundup of the world’s noxious right-wing authoritarians usually includes stops in Brazil, Hungary, India and take your pick in Africa…Uganda, maybe? Arguably Vladimir Putin fits within the proto-fascist collection, notwithstanding his rhetoric about “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. But no gallery would be complete without General al-Sisi of Egypt, as this tale from the latest edition ofContinue reading “Reminder of ‘Our’ Rogue on the Nile”

Various harbingers appear of an end to the college-cost syndrome, whereby prospective students and their parents reassess the worth of plowing tens of thousands of dollars annually into a degree credential. And surely, on the margins, this revolt against the endless increases in tuition and other bills is evident. But then we see reminders, asContinue reading “College $$$ Backlash? Blackstone Isn’t Sold”

Beware of “trend” stories, but this one from the Wall Street Journal suggests a believable pendulum swing back to brick-and-mortar shopping. Believable, because some buying is best done with tactile or other sensory judgments; because it is sometimes serendipitous, and because it can be part of a natural social experience when the stores are wellContinue reading “Americans Return to the Stores”

Much has been made of the Chinese Communist Party’s inroads into Africa, but less noticed is its increasing penetration of the Western Hemisphere, especially South America. This has proceeded apace for years, including during the Trump administration when regional policy hawks were supposedly on guard. This new report from the Council on Foreign Relations shedsContinue reading “Xi Jinping Is in the Neighborhood”

While cable-news attention is focused entirely elsewhere, the spillover effects of failed and/or corrupt states in the Americas continue to be felt on the U.S. border, where illegal flows keep swelling. This Associated Press report on the continuing calamity in Haiti is one more omen. The so-called Northern Triangle of Central America–Guatemala, Honduras and ElContinue reading “Meanwhile, on the Home Front”