Global Watch

The United States is stepping up its return to Central Asia as competition over critical minerals grows more intense. Washington is now looking at the region not just as a security partner, but as a major source of resources needed for artificial intelligence, clean energy, and defense industries.   Recent meetings between United States officials and leaders from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan show that Central Asia is moving bac...

South America is rich again.   Oil is flowing from the Atlantic coast. Copper and lithium are attracting billions in investment across the Andes. Governments are collecting more revenue, exports are rising, and investors are returning to markets that looked increasingly fragile only a few years ago.   From Guyana's offshore oil fields to Argentina's lithium reserves and Peru's copper mines, the continent has become a key supplier fo...

For decades, migration debates focused heavily on borders, security, and political tensions. But across many advanced economies, immigration is increasingly becoming an economic survival strategy.   Countries such as Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan are facing the same pressures: aging populations, low birth rates, worker shortages, and rising welfare costs.   Although migrants are often wrongly portrayed as a burden, ...

Pope Leo XIV has used his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (meaning “Magnificent Humanity”), to warn that artificial intelligence could move from serving humanity to controlling it, with a handful of powerful companies shaping how people work, think, fight, and live.   The warning was even sharper because Chris Olah, the cofounder of Anthropic, took part in the Vatican presentation. Anthropic is one of the two biggest AI c...

The United Nations has cut its global growth forecast in light of the war involving Iran, Israel, and the United States sent shockwaves through energy markets and global trade. Rising oil prices and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are now putting pressure on economies across the world.   The UN now expects the global economy to grow by 2.5% in 2026, lower than earlier forecasts of 2.7%. A 0.2% lower growth forecast means the g...