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Despite knowledge of his illness, I was stunned and saddened by the death on January 10 of Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman. I had come to know Sultan Qaboos, who ruled Oman for 49 years, as an American diplomat. I served two assignments in Oman, as deputy chief of mission between 1998 and 2001, and...
Four months after India’s abrogation of Article 370 in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, different reports on the situation have emerged from national and international media. Indian media have focused on the return of normalcy in the region with limited mention of the human rights violations...
Throughout history, France has often been on the frontlines of leading change. This time it is about state regulation of transnational business activity. It was only in March 2017 when France's Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law entered into force. Over two years later, mandatory human rights and...
Coups have been one of the greatest threats to democracy. The people elect a daring leader willing to take on the status quo. And then, as in Iran in 1953 or Chile in 1973, the military pushes the leader aside to take control. Sometimes the generals remain in power; sometimes they restore a royal...
For all its complexity, everyone understands what the US is. But what is the United Kingdom? Most people around the world have never quite understood what geographical and political unity is referred to in its name. Nor do they understand the question of where its boundaries are located....
Uber has lost its license to operate in London — one of its biggest markets globally – for the second time in two years. On November 25, Transport for London (TfL), the regulator of taxi and private hire services in the city, stated that it has “identified a pattern of failures by...
By modern standards, our paleo ancestors had superpowers. They could run marathons barefoot on a starvation diet; sleep naked outdoors every night; go without water for long periods; endure bites, scratches and untreated wounds; and mind-meld with the same small group every day for life. With all...
French King Louis XV reputedly said, “Après moi, le déluge.” (“After me, the flood.”) Whether that line was really his or not remains unclear, but not long after his death did come the French Revolution. We should be so lucky! Our all-American version of Louis XV, Donald I, is...
When Bob Iger was 23, his first boss at ABC told him he was “unpromotable.” “I wish he were alive just to see that he was wrong,” Iger, now chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, told Wharton management Professor Adam Grant during a recent appearance as part of the Authors@Wharton...
In an era when 280 characters can spur the demise or salvation of entire companies, so-called crisis communications has become an increasingly important and technically complex profession. Today’s successful specialists in this craft must be knowledgeable about a variety of topics including...
The Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago. It was one of the few unambiguously joyous moments in modern history. This popular, nonviolent explosion of dissent effectively toppled East Germany’s despotic regime. And it signaled, if only symbolically, the end of the Cold War that had divided Europe for...
