The Economist

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del periódico incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de septiembre de 2006.

Nota informativa: The Economist es una publicación semanal con sede en Londres que aborda la actualidad de las relaciones internacionales y de la economía desde un marco global. Fue fundada en 1843. Tiene implementado un «muro de pago» por lo que es necesario suscribirse para tener acceso a todos sus contenidos. Más información en su página de suscripción.

MundoAméricaEuropa, ,

For decades America and Britain have told the world that for a competition-law regime to be effective and legitimate, it must be insulated from political interference, not least when it comes to how agencies use their powers. Recent events in both countries have undermined this fundamental precept.

In January the British government fired Marcus Bokkerink, the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the country’s principal antitrust regulator, by having an official tell him that a statement would be issued the next day saying he had resigned. In February America’s Department of Justice announced that it would not defend longstanding Supreme Court precedent that protects members of federal regulatory agencies from removal except for good cause.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional

Archive 1945 is a project republishing The Economist’s original reporting on the final year of the second world war. Eighty years on, follow the course of the conflict week by week, in new instalments every Friday.

American pilots would later recall the strange, sweet smell, coming up from below, of burning flesh. They had begun dropping incendiary bombs on one of the most densely packed places on Earth just after midnight on March 10th 1945. In all, Major General Curtis LeMay sent 279 B-29 bombers from the United States Army Air Forces low over Tokyo to destroy the historical heart of the capital, Shitamachi, a working-class area by the Sumida river.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEuropa,

We need to be clear: while the American people may still be our friends, the Trump administration is no longer our ally. This is grave. It marks a fundamental break with the historic relationship between Europe and America and the link established after the second world war with the creation of the Atlantic alliance. It is unfortunately, however, indisputable. It is no longer merely a question of declarations designed to dumbfound, but of actions that mark much more than a disengagement: a strategic about-turn combined with an ideological confrontation. The signs of this reversal have been accumulating in recent weeks. The bewildering and degrading scenes in the Oval Office were the illuminating culmination.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, , ,

The notion of security guarantees has become critical to efforts to secure a sustainable peace in Ukraine. The country demands robust guarantees and—short of fast-track NATO membership, which is no longer on the table—could settle for a strong Western military presence on its soil. The Trump administration has made clear there will be no “US boots on the ground”, strongly suggesting a European force instead. Europeans have indicated a readiness to provide such assurances but insist on some form of American backstop to deter Russia from testing the force—an option not endorsed by Donald Trump. In addition, Europe is asking America to keep forces on NATO’s eastern flank, should troops be moved to Ukraine, and for NATO to provide command and control.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNuevas Tecnologías, ,

In the fast-changing landscape of warfare, the first nation to fully incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into military decision-making will shape the history of the 21st century. Humanity is entering a new era of “agentic warfare”, in which we will see some of the world’s strongest armies beaten by rivals that are better at harnessing AI agents—autonomous intelligent systems that can perform a multitude of tasks.

These AI systems will allow the most technologically advanced armed forces to outthink and outmanoeuvre even very capable opponents by linking a vast military network of sensors, weapons and human decision-makers. They will dramatically increase the speed at which tactical moves can be proposed, and allow battlefield advantages to be acted upon before humans are even able to survey the situation.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

The soldiers left muddy tracks throughout the house—physical traces of the violence they unleashed that day. The boot prints led all the way to the pool of blood around the woman’s body. Her dress had been hauled around her waist, her underwear torn and discarded in the corner. From her badly beaten eyes, she could see her two young children cowering in a corner, the older boy shielding his little sister’s eyes from the horror they had witnessed.

This crime, perpetrated by fighters loyal to the Serbian warlord Arkan in Kosovo in 1998, was one of the first cases of sexual violence in conflict that I documented as a young international lawyer.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, , ,

The fundamental choice for any country is whether to shape the world or be shaped by it. Throughout its history, Britain has chosen to shape the world. With the international situation so precarious, it must continue to do so.

That is why, as British prime minister, I announced an increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030, as well as providing multi-year funding for Ukraine’s armed forces. Even more is required now. And that should include seizing frozen Russian state assets. We must be prepared to use all our powers as we respond to this moment.

There are two reasons why an increase in defence spending is imperative, and why I was glad to see Sir Keir Starmer, my successor in 10 Downing Street, announcing this week that Britain will raise defence spending.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

President Donald Trump's purge of me and my 17 fellow inspectors-general (IGs) raises questions that reach far beyond the work we did. These include constitutional questions that, depending on how they are answered, could fundamentally change how the federal government is perceived and operates.

IGs are the watchdogs of the federal government, providing fair, objective and independent oversight inside federal agencies. When I served as the inspector-general for the Department of the Interior and chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), I viewed us as taxpayers’ representatives inside those agencies.

The way the mass firing of the 18 IGs on January 24th was carried out should sound alarms.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEuropa,

In his 1985 state-of-the-union address, Ronald Reagan stood before Congress and declared that America’s mission was “to nourish and defend freedom and democracy, and to communicate these ideals everywhere we can”.

At the time I was a 32-year-old member of the Danish parliament, and Reagan’s message stuck with me. Indeed, it was one I carried through my next 30 years in public life—as a parliamentarian, as a minister, and as first the prime minister of Denmark and then secretary-general of NATO. No matter the stakes in a global conflict of ideals, America knew where it stood.

I knew then that America had its faults—that it sometimes failed to live up to Reagan’s lofty stated mission—but at no point did I ever question that the security of both my country and my continent would be best guaranteed by a close-knit partnership with the United States.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

“They hit me and I hit them back harder and they disappear,” Donald Trump said in 2016, during his first presidential campaign, explaining an ethic developed in New York’s savage real-estate market. That ethic in a nutshell explains the early Trump administration’s torrent of attacks on the federal bureaucracy that Mr Trump believes, with some justification, sought to derail his first term.

But of course larger passions motivate Mr Trump’s Caesarean presidency: his will to power, extreme demands of loyalty, indifference to legal constraints and desire to eliminate all personnel or policy friction between his impulse and executive action. His subordinates have wedded these features of his personality to a theory of presidential power—the unitary executive—that is guiding his second administration’s unprecedentedly disruptive executive orders and actions.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad

All wars end, but how they end determines the shape of the peace that follows—and whether it will last. Now, as America has taken the initiative on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, European leaders must choose between showing strength as the process unfolds and facing the perils of relinquishing responsibility for their own security.

The reality of the peace talks will reflect the reality on the battlefield. Russia has little reason to negotiate in good faith if it believes it can succeed militarily. A stronger Ukraine makes Russia far more likely to give up its war of aggression. And even after a settlement is reached, both Ukraine and the rest of Europe will remain permanently vulnerable to future aggression if they do not have credible deterrence of their own.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoAsia,

After three turbulent years as America’s ambassador to China, I’ve returned home reflecting on lessons that will be crucial for the future of relations between these countries—and for peace in Asia.

First, America and China will be competing for power and influence into the next decade and probably beyond—and too many Americans in both parties underappreciate the fierceness of this struggle. The contest will play out in military, technological and economic terms, as well as over profound issues of freedom. China and America have the world’s two largest economies and strongest armed forces; their competition for power will know few boundaries.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional

Archive 1945 is a project republishing The Economist‘s original reporting on the final year of the second world war. Eighty years on, follow the course of the conflict week by week, in new instalments every Friday. In our entry of February 7th, we looked back at our coverage of Yalta.

Eighty years ago the Big Three—America, Britain and the Soviet Union—assembled for eight days of jaw-jawing at the Crimean resort of Yalta, their second gathering to finish the second world war and adjudicate the post-war order. Yalta proved to be a vastly grander spectacle than the preceding meeting, in late 1943 in Tehran, with far larger delegations.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, ,

Last Saturday, February 1st, could well be the day future historians judge as marking the end of the rules-based international order that was built atop the bloody ruins of the second world war and that has brought peace and prosperity to so many for so long.

I do not exaggerate the importance and the peril of the moment. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs of 25% on Canada on the flimsiest of pretexts. Moreover (and you have to pinch yourself that this really is happening), he says he will lift the threats if America can annex Canada. These threats represent such a gross violation of international norms that it puts the entire basis of global trade rules and international relations at risk.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, , ,

Back in the White House, President Donald Trump says that he will end the war in Ukraine—although not in a day, as he used to promise. But there is a problem: Vladimir Putin appears to be in no hurry to make concessions and accept a deal that is not on his terms. With the third anniversary of his invasion approaching, the Russian president appears to believe that time is on his side and that he has the advantage over both Ukraine and its Western backers.

It is true that Mr Putin’s approach, during a quarter of a century in power, has been to project implacable confidence, regardless of the objective reality.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocialReflexionesTestimonios,

On Febrauary 7th the inaugural tournament of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will begin on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast. My anticipation is immense. At the Weissenhaus Resort, the world’s top players will come together, among them Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Dommaraju Gukesh, the newly crowned world chess champion, who is 18 years old. Yet the most compelling aspect of the grand slam isn’t the venue or even the participants. It’s the format. We will be playing Freestyle Chess, a variant I hold dear and view as the future of the sport.

Why freestyle? Following my fifth consecutive victory in the World Chess Championship in 2022, I announced that I would no longer defend the title.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalSalud Pública

When COVID-19 struck five years ago, hundreds of thousands died because of a lack of oxygen. Even in rich countries, demand for oxygen overwhelmed hospitals in the first wave of the pandemic. In low- and middle-income countries, where nine out of ten hospitals had no medical-oxygen capacity, desperate families went to extraordinary lengths to procure oxygen cylinders to try to save their loved ones. In response, close to $1bn was mobilised to help these countries provide emergency supplies of cylinders and to invest in more scalable and cost-effective approaches, such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants that create medical oxygen from the atmosphere.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

Donald Trump is enjoying a honeymoon. As he wryly observed in December, “[In] the first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” The president-elect was referring to the ever-growing list of technology CEOs who had made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home. But he could just as easily have had in mind the #Resistance media luminaries now seeking to mend fences, the swing-state Democratic senators backing immigration-enforcement measures they once deemed anathema, or the anxious foreign emissaries hoping that he can be talked out of walloping their economies with tariffs.

Why do so many of the great and good now want to be Mr Trump’s friend?…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, , ,

Russia is far from an unstoppable force of nature. The autocrats who run it rely on a war economy that is unsustainable and shows serious cracks. Democracies should take advantage by increasing the economic pressure. It is we who have the momentum.

Contrary to Vladimir Putin’s narrative, and some people’s belief, sanctions do work. Even when they do not prevent certain goods and technologies from entering or—in the case of oil and gas—leaving Russia, they certainly make logistics more cumbersome. That increases costs.

Witness the rise in Russian consumer prices, which are up by more than a third since the end of 2021.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

“Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.” In 2016, just before moving into the White House for the first time, Donald Trump set the tone for an ambitious agenda to “modernise and rebuild” America’s nuclear arsenal. In his second term the stakes will be higher, and the pressing question is not if but by how much the Trump administration will update America’s nuclear deterrent. The smart move would be to aim for fewer warheads, not more.

China has been the primary factor fuelling the desire for a build-up. American officials have come to believe that China’s nuclear policy has changed, especially since satellite imagery from 2021 showed 300 new missile silos at nuclear facilities in Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang.…  Seguir leyendo »