.. THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016| S1

Global Agenda 2017

Where Privacy, History and Kofi Annan, Francis Fukuyama, In a Messy and Chaotic World, Yuri Milner Ponders the Year’s Colombians Must Cling to Their Trevor Noah on How to Bridge a Encryption Meet, by William Lawrence H. Summers and Choosing What Makes Us Happy, Breakthroughs in Science and Resolve to Find Peace, a Long Political Chasm After a Polarizing Gibson. Page S3. Mohamed A. El-Erian on by Marie Kondo. Page S6. Technology. Page S6. Process That Has Only Just Begun, U.S. Election. Page S8. Globalization. Pages S4-S5. by Ingrid Betancourt. Page S7.

SHASTI O’LEARY SOUDANT

“Halflife” is a performance piece premised on contagion, and I believe the greatest human contagion is fear. The year 2016 created some of the deepest social and cultural divides the world has seen in over half a century. A saturation of viral information and imagery led to a form of empathy fatigue, and as a result we have quarantined our minds, cordoned ourselves off to guard against incursion and consigned our most vulnerable to the edges. We have literally lost touch. As an artist, I attempt to create opportunities to reinstate contact. — Shasti O’Leary Soudant, a transdisciplinary artist, designer and writer from New York City

In Western societies, for too long, there Iraq War, the Great Recession — and their compromised Hillary Clinton. Neither onstrate in the French presidential election BY ROGER COHEN had been no victories, no glory and dimin- architects never paid. Syria encapsulated victory was large, but democracies can next year, is to lead “the people” against a ishing certainties. Wars were waged; the West’s newfound impotence, a kind of usher in radical change by the narrowest “rigged system,” Muslim migration and Roger Cohen is a NEW YORK The long wave unfurled at last. nobody knew how they could be won. seeping amorality; and, in its bloody dis- of margins. To give the Republican presi- the tyrannical consensus of overpaid ex- columnist for The Perhaps it is no surprise that the two Their wounds festered. The distance be- memberment, Syria sent into Europe a dent-elect his due, he intuited an immense perts. New York Times. His societies that felt its furious force — the tween metropolis and periphery grew into human tide that rabble-rousers seized disquiet and spoke to it in unambiguous The postwar order — its military alli- most recent book is United States and Britain — are also the a cultural chasm. Many things became upon. language. ances, trade pacts, political integration and “The Girl from Human open societies at the hub of globalized unsayable; even gender became debat- And so the British voted to quit the A quarter-century after the post-Cold legal framework — feels flimsy, and the Street: Ghosts of turbo-capitalism and finance. For at least a able. Truth blurred, then was sidelined, in European Union, symbol of a continent’s War zenith of liberal democracies and nature of the American power undergird- Memory in a Jewish decade, accelerating since the crash of an online tribal cacophony. triumph over fascism and destructive neoliberal economics, illiberalism and ing it all is suddenly unclear. Nobody ex- Family.” 2008, fears and resentments had been Jobs went. Inequality thrust itself in nationalism. Americans voted on Nov. 8 for authoritarianism are on the march. It’s cites Mr. Trump as much as Russia’s building over the impunity of elites, the your face. What the powerful said and the Donald J. Trump, who used much of the open season for anyone’s inner bigot. Vladimir V. Putin, who is to democracy dizzying disruption of technology, the lives people lived were so unrelated that xenophobic, fear-mongering language of Violence is in the air, awaiting a spark. The what a sledgehammer is to a Ming vase. influx of migrants and the precariousness politics looked increasingly like a big heist. 1930s Europe to assemble an angry mob winning political card today, as Mr. Trump Strongmen and autocrats everywhere — of modern existence. Debacle followed debacle — the euro, the large enough that he triumphed over a has shown and Marine Le Pen may dem- COHEN, PAGE S7 .. S2 | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION Turning Points

A cataclysmic year Letter from the editors: advancing by fits and starts

This special report contains the fruits of our annual search for “turning points,” the events, trends, inventions and ideas that will move the compass needles of our lives. We found many, and they all matter, but in the end, 2016 will enter history as a pivot MAURICIO LIMA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES that revealed the depth of the fears, alien- ation and frustration of our times, abruptly The year in photos upending many of our assumptions about the future. Zika spreads Top left: After Brazil declared Perhaps we should have seen it coming. a national public health emergency in Populism and nationalism have been November 2015, the mosquito-borne Zika spreading through many corners of the virus continued to spread, with thousands world, fed by people’s frustration with of new cases throughout Central and globalization, loss of identity and moral South America and the Caribbean. World- certainties, and fears of terrorism and wide fear of the virus grew as athletes, floods of refugees. Liberal democracies journalists and spectators gathered in Rio have gone on the defensive before the de Janeiro in August for the 2016 growing popularity of authoritarian rulers. Olympics. Opening Cuba Left: As part of The British vote to part ways with Europe the United States’ effort to normalize signaled the power of these changes, and relations with Cuba, it lifted some travel, then came the American election. banking and trade restrictions that had Like the fall of the Berlin Wall 27 years been in place for more than a half-century. earlier to the day, Donald J. Trump’s elec- The easing coincided with President Oba- tion as president of the United States was ma’s visit to Cuba in March, the first such a cataclysm that brought together many trip for an American leader in 88 years. vaguely perceived movements, trends and Hong Kong independence Below: After signs, abruptly signaling that our lives close to two decades of showing relative have been irrevocably redirected. In 1989 tolerance for Hong Kong’s autonomy, we were certain it was for the better, but China’s central government injected itself this time we have no idea. into the city’s local courts, stopping two That is frightening, and what happens separatist politicians from taking seats in next might not be pretty at times. But then the Hong Kong legislature. Thousands of the world has always advanced by fits and people protested the intervention, which starts, and as you read through the turning points in this section, it becomes evident threatened Hong Kong’s reputation for that there is too much changing on each having a fair and independent judiciary. front — the environment, robotics, culture, Hollywood, exploration, politics — for any one leader, or any one nation, or any popu- list movement, to reverse or even halt these shifts for long.

We can bemoan or welcome the digital STEPHEN CROWLEY/THE NEW YORK TIMES revolution, the coming of self-driving cars, social change or the mass movement of peoples, but we can’t stop any of it. What we can do is try to make these changes work for the betterment of our lives and our planet. That goes for democracy, too. It is not a fixed formula for governance, but a way of life that is forever adapting and changing, reflecting our highest hopes and lowest fears. Those fears have risen to the surface for now, but hope has always prevailed in time. So even with this shocker of all turning points, we need not despair. —SERGE SCHMEMANN

Serge Schmemann is a member of the editori- al board of The New York Times.

ADAM FERGUSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES KIN CHEUNG/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES Brexit Above: In June, voters in Britain chose to cut their country’s ties with the European Union. The decision to end the more than 40-year-old relationship, which critics said would derail Britain’s economy and currency, was part of a global wave of nationalism. Trump elected president Right: On Nov. 8, Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th presi- dent of the United States. His victory was a stunning upset and rejection of the American establishment.

DMITRY KOSTYUKOV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Terrorist attacks continue Above: In July, an assailant killed 86 people and injured more than 400 when he drove a 19-ton truck through a Bastille Day crowd at the Prome- nade des Anglais in Nice, France. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. Democracy in flux Below: The Turkish government drifted further toward authoritarianism after a failed military coup attempt in July. It jailed tens of thousands of people, including journalists, teachers and judges, and shut down media outlets.

DAMON WINTER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Dangerous journeys Above: The flood of migrants leaving the Middle East continued in 2016. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them Syrians fleeing civil war, crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. Death in Syria Right: The Syrian civil war dragged on in its fifth year. The United States and Russia ISMAIL FERDOUS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES pieced together multiple cease-fires, which quickly crumbled. By September more than 400,000 people had been killed and more than 11 million displaced.

THAER MOHAMMED/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES .. THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016| S3 Global Agenda 2017

The future of secrecy

TURNING POINT: Apple resists the F.B.I. in state, which itself keeps secrets? dead. We come to know them with an unlocking an iPhone in the San Bernardino Even this simple consideration of pri- intimacy impossible in their day. It would terrorism case. vacy confuses me. Is individual privacy be unthinkable for us to turn away from and state privacy the same thing? Are their secrets, to allow the Iceman his pri- they conceptually antithetical? Is it to a vacy or to not scan beneath the bitumen to state’s advantage to permit its citizens to recover an Egyptian priestess’s tattoos. BY WILLIAM GIBSON keep secrets? States desirous of citizens’ And here, to complete my tangle of William Gibson is a I’ve never been able to fit the concepts of secrets have been known to torture their confusion, is encryption, no doubt aggra- novelist and essayist. privacy, history and encryption together in own people in the course of encouraging vated by my inability to understand the His books include a satisfying way, though it continues to them to reveal what they know. We know concept mathematically. I assume (per- “The Peripheral,” seem that I should. Each concept has to do this historically, and we know it still to be haps incorrectly) that the future is all too “Zero History” and with information; each can be considered true, though whether we’ve personally liable to have its way with today’s most “Neuromancer.” to concern the public and the private; and been affected by it largely depends on sophisticated encryption technology. I each involves aspects of society, and per- where we happen to live. imagine that the world’s best-kept secrets haps particularly digital society. But expe- I have ideas about history, more than I — those of both private citizens and state rience has taught me that all I can hope to have about privacy, and it is here that my institutions — will one day sit in plain sight do with these three concepts is demon- confusion deepens exponentially. I believe on whatever it is that our descendants strate the problems that considering them that our ability to create history, to tran- display data on. together causes. Privacy confuses me, beyond my sim- plest understanding, which is that individ- The world’s best-kept secrets — those of both uals prefer, to different degrees, that infor- mation about them not be freely available private citizens and state institutions — will one to others. I desire privacy myself, and I day sit in plain sight. understand why other individuals want it. But when the entity desiring privacy is a state, a corporation or some other human scend generations via our extraordinary Privy to that information while looking institution, my understanding of privacy prosthetic equivalents of memory, is the back at us, our ancestors will know us becomes confused. most remarkable thing about us. Unless differently than we currently know our- While it’s true that states and corpora- we’ve forgotten something, lost it to his- selves, just as we now know the Victorians tions often desire privacy, they just as tory, we’ve yet to encounter another quite differently from how they knew often desire that I myself have less pri- species capable of the same thing. Should themselves. The past, our own past, which vacy. What does it mean, in an ostensible the F.B.I. or other agencies be able to our descendants will see us as having democracy, for the state to keep secrets unlock the iPhones of terrorists? To be emerged from, will not be the past from from its citizens? The idea of the secret able to do so makes them able to unlock which we now see ourselves emerging, but state seems antithetical to democracy, yours or mine. Should I be able to encrypt a reinterpretation of it, based on subse- since its citizens, the voters, can’t know documents in such a way that the F.B.I. quently available information, greater what their government is doing. Thereby can’t decrypt them? If I can, terrorists can transparency and fewer secrets. hang the countless conspiracy theories of as well. (Not that I necessarily accept If our continually lengthening, ever our day, many of them supposing that we terrorism as the ultimate fulcrum in such more transparent history is the sum total possess far less privacy than we actually arguments, but it’s become the one most of who we are as a species, then our do. Advocates of the secret state, wishing often employed.) species is the poorer for every secret to comfort us, sometimes praise a rough In the short term, the span of a lifetime, faithfully kept. Any permanently unbreak- and ready transparency: If you have noth- many of us would argue for privacy, and able encryption seems counter to that. ing to hide and you trust your government, therefore against transparency. But his- And yet I would prefer to keep certain what can you possibly have to fear? Ex- tory, the long term, is transparency; it is secrets of my own, as I assume most of us cept that one can just as readily ask: If you the absence of secrets. So we are quite would. So perhaps that desire is as much a have nothing to hide, what do you really merciless, as historians, when it comes to part of us, as a species, as our need to have, aside from the panoptic attention of a the secrets of the past, the secrets of the build these memory palaces. ALESSANDRO GOTTARDO

The Big Question: Is artificial intelligence improving or taking over our lives? Are driverless cars, smart robots, drones and computer chess champions making our lives more interesting, convenient and safer? Or is technology evolving faster than we can absorb? FAITH POPCORN Faith Popcorn is a futurist, author and chief executive of BrainReserve, a strategic consultancy. Yes, it’s possible that thousands of us will be robo-replaced: Oxford University reports that 47 percent of workers in the United States will be automated into unemployment within two decades. Pepper, a humanoid robot, is snag- ging receptionist jobs. The artificial intelligence service Brain.fm is composing the music that our Olympians listen to as they train. And the JOI ITO program Quill is writing financial news. A Joi Ito is the director of the MIT Media Lab, NEIL HARBISSON guaranteed minimum income will come to a research laboratory devoted to the inte- Neil Harbisson is a British cyborg artist. America soon enough when salaries are a thing gration of technology, art and design. of the past. I don’t think machines will be interested in At the same time, however, voice recognition The bulk of today’s artificial intelligence re- murdering and destroying us; that wouldn’t be and transcription software will allow us to search focuses on machine learning, where intelligent enough — humans already know speak, not write, our Great American Novels. engineers “train” machines to augment the how to do that. Evading death by robot, howev- Translation apps are on the verge of making collective intelligence of our governments, er, isn’t our only concern as artificial intelli- GARRY KASPAROV real-time conversations flow around the globe. markets and society. This “extended intelli- gence begins to rise. If we don’t want technol- Garry Kasparov is the chairman of the Watson, the IBM supercomputer, may have gence,” or E.I., will likely become the dominant ogy to become more intelligent than humans, Human Rights Foundation and a former saved a Tokyo woman’s life, diagnosing her form of A.I. Here’s the rub: The algorithms that then humans need to become technology. If world chess champion. His book “Deep rare leukemia when doctors couldn’t. Robots create E.I. are trained by humans and can we become cyborgs we can evolve at the same Thinking” on the human-machine relation- like Robear (a bearlike nursing-care assistant) propagate the same biases that plague society, speed as our technological counterparts. By ship will be published by PublicAffairs in will alleviate loneliness when our life span perpetuating them under the guise of “smart adding artificial senses to our bodies, we will spring 2017. stretches to age 150. With our minds freed machines.” Take, for instance, predictive NNEDI OKORAFOR be able to extend our perception of reality, from the drudgery of work, perhaps we’ll ele- policing algorithms used to determine which acquire more knowledge and become more Machines have been replacing humans since Nnedi Okorafor is a science fiction and vate our society and revel in a new Golden Age. neighborhoods should be more heavily pa- intelligent. the first one was invented many thousands of fantasy writer. Her young adult novel, Count me in. trolled for criminal activity, or who should be “Akata Witch 2: Akata Warrior,” comes out We are the first generation that can truly years ago — and on the very next day it proba- classified as a terrorist. Unless we embed in autumn 2017. decide who we want to be as a species. We bly created new jobs when three people were ethical and moral grounding, technology meant can add new senses and additional organs to needed to fix it. Humans are adaptable. We’re to advance our well-being could, in fact, end When I contemplate the future impact of extend our bodies’ capacity to experience the creative. We use machines to make new up amplifying the worst aspects of our society. artificial intelligence on humanity, African world. We can, in effect, redesign ourselves. things, solve new problems and create whole Well-intentioned uses of developing tech- roads come to mind. Giant locally made hu- Our current evolutionary step is to merge with industries that we can’t yet imagine. Doomsay- nologies can go wrong. In 2003 I co-authored manoid robots are already policing the streets technology and take an active part in the birth ing is easy and natural. We can see what’s a paper that predicted that an open internet of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic of our future selves. being lost, but we don’t see the new things would play a significant role in democratizing Republic of Congo. The solar-powered, eight- until they arrive. society and fostering peace. Later, in the early foot-tall robots are stationed at the center of a As I learned in my chess matches against days of the Arab Spring, it felt as though the handful of intersections where they keep traffic the IBM computer Deep Blue 20 years ago, internet had indeed helped spark the uprising. down and drivers and pedestrians safe. humans will always find a way to build ma- But as the internet has increasingly become a Created by Thérèse Izay Kirongozi, a Kin- chines that replicate human performance. And place for bigotry and malicious trolling as well shasa engineer, the robots have rotating SHAUNA MEI while humans still play chess, entire profes- as a platform for organizations like ISIS to chests that enable them to do the job of four Shauna Mei is the chief executive and sions will continue to go the way of the eleva- advance a wave of hatred, I wonder, “What traffic lights. They’re also equipped with cam- founder of AHALife, an online marketplace tor operator as machines become more capa- hath the internet wrought?” I have similar eras that record and monitor drivers. These for curated products. ble. The good news is that intelligent machines concerns about the development and deploy- robot traffic cops work around the clock and also liberate us from tedious labor, letting us When shopping for clothing, we consider size, ment of E.I. are beloved by locals (and they don’t accept be more imaginative and more ambitious — price and color. But other factors are equally It’s absolutely essential for us to develop a bribes). although of course one person’s “liberated” is important: a garment’s style, how it feels and framework for how our ethics, government, There is already talk of bringing robot cops another person’s “unemployed,” at least in the drapes on the body, and how its manufacturing educational system and media evolve in the to other African intersections. Once they’re SUSAN BENNETT short term. affects the environment or the local economy. age of machine intelligence. We must initiate a installed in traffic-crippled cities like Lagos and Susan Bennett is a voice actress Human ambition is the key to staying ahead These elements must be judged by a human. broader, in-depth discussion about how society Cairo, the next logical step would be to up- and in 2011 became the original of automation, and that’s what worries me far Artificial intelligence augments that judg- will co-evolve with this technology, and we grade them with artificial intelligence so they voice of Apple iPhone’s Siri. more than killer robots. The huge increases in ment. A.I. can learn your “style,” your propen- must build a new kind of computer science can perform their complex tasks better. The productivity that machines provide must be sity toward “conscious consumption” and your that creates technologies that are not only roads of Africa’s greatest cities will unclog, It seems we no longer have to use our brains invested aggressively, not squandered. We’re spending habits, then choose specific items “smart,” but are also socially responsible. If we paving a way for efficiency to take over on a as much as we once did. Any one of our digital very good at teaching machines how to do our from a catalog more efficiently than you ever allow E.I. to develop without thoughtfully broader scale. devices can instantly give us information. As old jobs — so the solution is to keep inventing machines get smarter, is the opposite happen- could. This collaborative filtering is better at managing how it integrates with, and affects, new ones. The only job security for the human predicting purchases than an expert stylist’s society, it could be used to amplify dangerous ing to us? race is to press into the new and the unknown. We’ll have new intelligent creatures that recommendations are. biases and entities. And we may not notice won’t hate each other because of race, creed At AHAlife.com, we’ve started using algo- until it’s too late. This is a collaboration with Room for Debate. rithms to help us with two predictive behaviors: The online version of this article can be found or religion — something that humans have showing the right products to our customers at nytimes.com/roomfordebate. seemed incapable of doing in the 6,000 years civilized man has been on the planet. But will before they even know they want them and they be able to create art, music, literature ... providing the right marketing copy to encour- comedy? age them to buy. In the new world of online We’re about to find out. Perhaps A.I. will “discovery shopping,” even when your prefer- replace humans, and Siri will lead us quietly ences guide your browsing, the choices are so into the sea. Fortunately for me, since Apple vast. Human-augmented A.I. helps you to save changed the Siri voices worldwide beginning time and make more discerning purchases. with the i0S7, she’ll no longer have my voice. .. S4 | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION Turning Points

A political system under pressure

TURNING POINT: The United Nations reports The union was never about ceding autonomy is a universal preference, tem- that a record 65 million people have been sovereignty, as Brexiters in Britain argued, pered only by an overriding concern about displaced by global conflicts. but about pooling it. However, many ob- security. Politicians with authoritarian servers question the union’s future, given tendencies exploit that concern by playing its perceived failures in the face of the the politics of fear. Adversaries, real or Great Recession of 2008, the European imagined, are their best defense against BY KOFI ANNAN debt crisis and the desperate migrants at their people’s natural aspiration for great- Whatever their level of faith in the process, its borders. er freedom. voters go to the polls next year in Chile, Globalization also tends to divide socie- To harness this aspiration, just about France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Kenya, ties into winners and losers. While a few every country around the world stages the Netherlands, Rwanda, South Korea individuals and organizations — including elections, but even where the result is and Thailand, among other countries. The organized crime — have amassed unprece- predetermined, leaders claim to be ruling hope is that democracy will fare better dented wealth (and managed to minimize on their people’s behalf. Elections aren’t than in 2016. The very essence of this taxes thanks to global markets and capital truly democratic if they’re not inclusive, ancient system of governance is being mobility), countless more people in the transparent and accountable. They don’t tested. Freedom has declined worldwide West have seen their incomes stagnate. confer genuine legitimacy, as was seen last for the 11th straight year, according to Globalization doesn’t seem to be raising all year in Burundi, where the violence- Freedom House, a nongovernmental orga- boats. Populists like Donald J. Trump in marred re-election of President Pierre nization. America, Marine Le Pen in France and Nkurunziza hasn’t resolved the country’s Many countries that seemed to be tran- Nigel Farage in the United Kingdom have political crisis. sitioning to democracy, like Egypt, Turkey, exploited this situation for partisan pur- When political rivals and their support- Thailand and the Democratic Republic of poses. ers don’t believe that the electoral process Congo, are backsliding; among the encour- Though authoritarian leaders, democra- is free and fair, they seek less peaceful aging exceptions are Myanmar, Nigeria cy’s eternal critics, also use the language methods to change political direction and and Tunisia. Many authoritarian regimes of muscular nationalism as they grapple leadership. If the street isn’t to take the are also cracking down further on dissent. with globalization, they too are dependent place of the ballot box, credible elections And in the established democracies, trust on the global economy, which limits their are essential. in politicians, party membership and elec- room to maneuver. Such leaders may be We should promote legitimate elections toral participation — all key indicators of a less vulnerable to the vagaries of public around the world — not only because we democracy’s legitimacy — have steadily opinion, but they are usually beholden to think that democracy is ethically superior diminished for years. powerful and opaque groups, such as army to other forms of government, but also Why have these challenges emerged generals, party apparatchiks and oli- because it delivers better results. It holds now, and with such a vengeance? One garchs. the best promise for peace, development common thread is globalization, an un- In periods of upheaval, authoritarian and respect for human rights and the rule elected, supranational force. Once hailed systems may look attractive because of the of law. as a boon, it’s increasingly regarded as a quick decision-making they allow. Howev- So how do we help democracies to flour- threat — to security, to cultural identity, to er, the ability of such systems to make ish as globalization progresses? The best the economy. snap decisions on the whims of just one way is not to “export democracy,” as Globalization has helped hundreds of man has historically led to catastrophes George W. Bush’s administration, for ex- millions to escape poverty, lowered the that wouldn’t be possible in democracies, ample, directed American troops to do in costs of manufactured goods for con- which are burdened but also protected by Iraq and elsewhere, but rather to inspire sumers around the world and afforded checks and balances. people to import it by demonstrating that unprecedented mobility. But it has also increased inequalities within countries and reduced the power of governments to Tens of millions of people are in flight, and control their borders and their economies. Globalization makes the world more globalization has brought rapid, difficult interdependent, while political systems changes to many economies around the world. remain national. Candidates for high office Is democracy strong enough? usually campaign on domestic issues, but after they win, they find themselves grap- LINCOLN AGNEW pling with complex international issues over which they exercise limited control, Our appreciation of democracies can be democracy works. structive protest or electoral apathy. De- ments in societies as disparate as Burkina Kofi Annan, who making their election promises difficult to warped by uneven information. Authori- Democracy-building begins at home. mocracy is only as strong as its citizens Faso, Hong Kong and Venezuela show that served as secretary- fulfill. tarian regimes tend to look better than Democratic leaders must be honest with make it. We can’t have healthy, responsive democratic aspirations around the world general of the United These failures to deliver have created they are because information is controlled, their electorates about a globalized world’s democracies where large swaths of the remain vital. Nations from 1997 to the impression of loss of sovereignty. Take criticism is suppressed and a steady rewards and constraints. They must also population don’t vote. Tweeting isn’t I sometimes hear that democracies have 2006, was awarded the case of Europe. The European Union, stream of propaganda creates a false sense make sure that those rewards are widely enough. lost their sense of purpose. This isn’t so. the Nobel Peace the world’s most ambitious attempt to of popularity; democracies tend to look shared, which requires that the wealthy be With the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 Democracy’s purpose is to create condi- Prize with the United adapt democracy to the growing global worse because their media, civil societies effectively taxed so that everybody bene- years ago, it seemed inevitable that de- tions in which free citizens can lead the Nations in 2001. He interconnectedness, is fraying. Many and politicians all magnify their problems. fits from those rewards. Finally, demo- mocracy would prevail — the market most fulfilling lives possible that they is the founder and Europeans, faced with the flood of mi- In reality, authoritarian systems are brittle cratic leaders should be responsive to the democracies that had triumphed over themselves choose. Human beings need chairman of the Kofi grants and shaken by terror attacks, want in the face of change, and democracies priorities of the many, not just the few who communism were also the world’s most not only livelihoods and security but also Annan Foundation. to close their borders. But a fortress men- more resilient thanks to their fundamental contribute to campaigns or hire lobbyists. prosperous and free societies. Democracy freedom, dignity and justice. tality is likely to limit their capacity to legitimacy, accountable governance and But those citizens fortunate enough to can seem less appealing in a time of stag- Democracy, whatever its flaws, is the influence what’s outside the walls. A coun- the safety valves afforded by freedom of live in democracies also have responsibil- nating incomes, social inequality and political system that can best respond to try in the European Union that’s acting expression. ities: They must channel their political terror, especially in situations where those needs. May next year’s elections alone isn’t as powerful as one that’s part of The World Values Survey has repeatedly aspirations and grievances in constructive money is having a disproportionate influ- bring positive news for democracy, with all the group. shown that the desire for free choice and ways rather than merely indulge in de- ence on politics. And yet citizens’ move- the gifts it can provide.

The allure of the illiberal

TURNING POINT: Britain votes to exit the learn to be adults by accumulating predict- percent in 2011, while the percentage of 2014. An attempted coup two years later closed form of identity than their predeces- European Union, sending shock waves able habits, and we bond by memorializing children born in developing countries who became an excuse for him to target thou- sors. While these leaders have observed throughout the world. our ancestors and traditions. So it should died before their fifth birthday declined sands of civil servants, military officers, the principles of liberalism more scrupu- not be surprising that in today’s globalized from 22 percent in 1960 to less than 5 per- journalists and academics whom he sus- lously than the Orbáns or Erdogans of the world, many people are upset that vast cent by 2016. pected of disloyalty. world, their critics suspect that they are technological and social forces constantly Yet statistics like these do not reflect the Mr. Orbán, Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan quietly fostering intolerance among their BY FRANCIS FUKUYAMA disrupt established social practices, even if lived experience of many people. The shift all came to power in countries with an supporters. Francis Fukuyama is In Silicon Valley, where I live, the word they are better off materially. of manufacturing from the West to low electorate polarized between a more libe- How far will this trend toward illiberal a senior fellow at “disruption” has an overwhelmingly pos- Of course, globalization has produced labor-cost regions has meant that Asia’s ral, cosmopolitan urban elite — whether in democracy go? Are we headed for a period Stanford University itive valence: Thousands of smart, young enormous benefits. From 1970 to the 2008 rising middle classes have grown at the Budapest, Moscow or Istanbul — and a like that of the early 20th century, in which and Mosbacher people arrive here every year hoping to financial crisis, global output quadrupled, expense of rich countries’ working-class less-educated rural voter base. This social global politics sank into conflict over director of its Center disrupt established ways of doing business and the benefits did not flow exclusively to communities. And from a cultural stand- division is similar to the one that drove the closed and aggressive nationalism? The on Democracy, — and become very rich in the process. the rich. According to the economist point, the huge movement of ideas, people Brexit vote in Britain and Donald J. outcome will depend on several critical Development and For almost everyone else, however, Steven Radelet, the number of people and goods across national borders has Trump’s rise in the United States. factors, particularly the way global elites the Rule of Law. disruption is a bad thing. By nature, hu- living in extreme poverty in developing disrupted traditional communities and Mr. Trump’s ascent poses a unique chal- respond to the backlash they have engen- man beings prize stability and order. We countries fell from 42 percent in 1993 to 17 ways of doing business. For some this has lenge to the American system because he dered. In America and Europe, elites made presented tremendous opportunity, but for fits comfortably into the trend toward huge policy blunders in recent years that others it is a threat. illiberal democracy. He validated himself hurt ordinary people more than them- This disruption has been closely associ- through popular support, but his entire selves. Deregulation of financial markets ated with the growth of American power career has been spent trying to bypass laid the groundwork for the subprime and the liberal world order that the United inconvenient rules — like the requirement crisis in the United States, while a badly States has shaped since the end of World to pay his own subcontractors. Much of his designed euro contributed to the debt War II. Understandably, there has been popularity rested heavily on his willing- crisis in Greece, and the Schengen system blowback, both against the United States ness to break existing customs about of open borders made it difficult to control and within the nation. political correctness. This seemed poli- the flood of refugees in Europe. Elites must Modern political systems are labeled tically bracing at first, but quickly became acknowledge their roles in creating these liberal democracies because they unite two worrisome when Mr. Trump suggested situations. disparate principles. Liberalism is based that as president, he would “open up our What is surprising is not that there is on a rule of law that maintains a level libel laws” to initiate civil suits against his populism today, but that the populist up- playing field for all citizens, particularly the right to private property, which is critical for economic growth and prosper- Are we headed for a period like that of the early ity. The democratic part, political choice, is the enforcer of communal choices and 20th century, in which global politics sank into accountable to the citizenry as a whole. conflict over closed and aggressive Over the past few years, we’ve wit- nationalism? nessed revolts around the world of the democratic part of this equation against the liberal one, underlined most strikingly two years ago by Hungary’s Prime Min- media critics. His pitch to the American surge took as long as it did to materialize. ister Viktor Orbán when he asserted that voter was “I alone” can fix the country’s Now it’s up to the elites to fix damaged his country sought to be an “illiberal state.” problems through sheer force of person- institutions and to better buffer those In 2014, his Fidesz party won most of the ality, and not through a reform of the coun- segments of their own societies that have popular vote and a supermajority in Parlia- try’s institutions. not benefited from globalization to the ment and began modifying the Constitu- That Mr. Trump expressed admiration same extent. tion to centralize power in Mr. Orbán’s for Mr. Putin, and that Mr. Putin returned Above all, it is important to keep in mind hands. Mr. Orbán subsequently cracked the favor, should come as no surprise. Like that reversing the existing liberal world down on critical media outlets and nongov- Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump seems to want to use order would likely make things worse for ernmental organizations that he did not a democratic mandate to undermine the everyone, including those left behind by control. checks and balances that characterize a globalization. The fundamental driver of In doing so, Mr. Orbán was imitating genuine liberal democracy. He will be an job loss in the developed world, after all, is Vladimir Putin, perhaps the world’s chief oligarch in the Russian mold: a rich man not immigration or trade, but technological practitioner of illiberal democracy. Mr. who used his wealth to gain political power change. The American manufacturing Putin has become very popular in Russia, and who would use political power to sector has seen something of a rebirth particularly since his annexation of Crimea enrich himself once in office. And like Mr. over the past decade, even as it has shed in 2014. He does not feel bound by law: Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump was able to create alter- jobs in its highly automated factories. Putin and his cronies use political power to native narratives that often went unchal- We need better systems for buffering enrich themselves and business wealth to lenged by his supporters. people against disruption, even as we guarantee their hold on power. But the balance between liberalism and recognize that disruption is inevitable. The In nearby Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdo- democracy has been shifting in other alternative is to end up with the worst of gan, the country’s president and long- nations as well. The citizens of India and both worlds, in which a closed and collaps- dominant political leader, also received a Japan have elected nationalist leaders who ing system of global trade breeds even

MIKE MCQUADE strong democratic mandate from voters in many say they believe champion a more more inequality. .. THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016| S5 Global Agenda 2017

Globalization is in dire need of a reset Lawrence H. Sum- TURNING POINT: World leaders confront a forces beyond their control. As people’s ability to control the behavior of Chinese running large surpluses. ments. And such measures would make mers is the Charles rise in anti-globalization attitudes. distance increases in a geographic sense, companies in the United States for in- While economic growth continued in possible more support for the middle class. in a cultural sense, and in the sense of a creased security for American global com- 2016 for the United States, the European In recent years we have also com- W. Eliot University lack of shared identity, they lose confi- panies when they locate production facili- Union and Japan, it did so at rates that menced a race to the bottom in areas like Professor and presi- dence in their leaders’ abilities to protect ties or otherwise invest in China. From the would have seemed unacceptably low a labor standards, environmental protec- BY LAWRENCE H. SUMMERS dent emeritus at them. Insecurity is begetting atavism. point of view of a typical middle-class decade ago. In these three economies, tions and capital requirements for banks. Harvard University. In statistical terms, 2016 was a year of These trends pose dangers. For all the American voter, the deal is lose-lose. inflation remained below the 2 percent Businesses evade stiffer rules by moving He served as chief continuity for the world economy, as per- problems and challenges, the past 70 years To enable the international community target that central banks aim for, and elsewhere, hindering national aspirations economist for the formance was quite similar to that of have been a period of unprecedented to engage in this dialogue, global coopera- market indicators suggest that it might to improve in these areas. The remedy is World Bank from recent years. The big changes were poli- progress in increasing human emancipa- tion is key, with the focus of economic well remain so for the next decade. And international dialogue directed at estab- 1991 to 1993, secre- tical, as a widespread anti-globalization tion, prosperity, life expectancy and in diplomacy on measures that increase the most interest rates continued their down- lishing global minimum standards, harmo- tary of the Treasury movement signaled a breakdown in a ward trend, reflecting the diminished nizing approaches. Department from consensus among most political leaders inflation expectations and a high level of Finally, fences, walls and barriers are 1999 to 2001 and that had held since the end of the World We need to promote ‘responsible nationalism’ saving relative to investment. not an effective approach to resisting director of the Na- War II. It used to be generally accepted rather than international integration for its These and other statistics indicate that undesired flows of people. The only endur- tional Economic that reducing trade barriers increases the United States and Europe are just one ing solution to the unprecedented flood of Council from 2009 prosperity and promotes peace, benefiting own sake. recessionary shock away from being refugees will come from creating condi- to 2010. investing and recipient countries and caught in a deflationary trap. Japan has tions that enable people to do what they promoting international cooperation in been stuck in one for more than a decade, most prefer — stay at home. The global solving problems around the world. Al- reducing violence. All of this would be at range of policies that governments can with expectations of decreasing prices gain from supporting source countries is most all of this was called into question in risk. pursue to support middle-class workers prompting consumers to delay spending much greater than the gain to any one 2016. We need to redirect the global economic domestically. and save money. Assuring adequate pres- nation from limiting support solely to the Both major party presidential candi- dialogue to the promotion of “responsible When the Allied nations met in 1944 at sure for stimulus needs to become a pri- refugees within its borders. dates in the United States professed to be nationalism” rather than on international Bretton Woods to negotiate the rules and ority for the Group of 20, to precaution The events of 2016 will be remembered staunchly opposed to the Trans-Pacific integration for its own sake. A classic procedures of a new international mone- against deflation. either as a point at which we began to turn Partnership trade agreement, and Donald example of a misguided initiative is the tary system, the economist John Maynard Given figures on the hundreds of billions away from globalization or the one at J. Trump called for ripping up existing effort to promote a bilateral investment Keynes recognized that a global economy of dollars lost annually because of tax which the strategies of globalization began trade treaties like Nafta. Across the Atlan- treaty between the United States and will have a systematic bias toward contrac- sheltering, the gains from a global effort to to be reoriented away from elite and to- tic, British voters opted to leave the Euro- China. Even in the unlikely event that such tion if countries that have borrowed heav- prevent capital income from escaping ward mass interests. As we make our pean Union, while the ruling Conservative a treaty could be negotiated, its effect ily are forced to cut back spending while taxation are at least comparable to those choices over the next few years, the stakes Party challenged the rights of foreign would be to trade a reduction in America’s no pressure is applied to countries that are from highly controversial trade agree- are very high. workers and the head of the Labour Party embraced socialism and expressed skepti- cism of Britain’s NATO membership. A trade deal between the European Union and hardly threatening Canada was almost scuppered by a recalcitrant Belgian prov- ince concerned about the effects of global- ization on local workers. Movements hos- tile to the longstanding vision of an ever more united Europe gained strength in every major country. Resistance to globalization was not confined to the West, nor to the industri- alized world. Leaders including Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Xi Jinping in China and Naren- dra Modi in India all appealed to national pride, core values and strength, each placing uncomfortable emphasis on some variant of ethnic purity. In all four cases, any interest in universal values of open- ness or human rights is very much second- ary to the reassertion of national strength. This renaissance of nationalism and resistance to globalization appears to be universal, and not the exclusive preserve of either the left or right. It seems to stem from a profound sense on the part of many

groups that their lives are buffeted by FEDERICO JORDAN

Central banks alone won’t save us

TURNING POINT: Canada and the European countries with strong balance sheets, such Citizens of the United Kingdom voted in only institution with the flexibility to ad- tant one in 2017. But that need not be a Union sign a trade agreement, committing as Germany. June to dismantle the country’s deep trad- dress the problems, the central banks scary proposition if politicians resume them to opening their markets to greater The resulting fiscal paralysis, combined ing and financial links with Europe, which refused to walk away, continuing to admin- their economic governance responsibil- competition. with insufficient progress on progrowth have served it well for four decades. Anti- ister their imperfect — even experimental ities. structural reforms — including revamping trade rhetoric dominated the United States — prescriptions. A comprehensive policy response would corporate taxes, building better infrastruc- presidential election, from Donald J. The result included policy outcomes focus on pro-growth structural reforms ture and training workers — hit those Trump’s threat of tariffs on China and that, not so long ago, were virtually un- (including tax reform), greater fiscal activ- BY MOHAMED A. EL-ERIAN countries’ middle and lower classes partic- Mexico to Hillary Clinton’s distancing thinkable. The Bank of Japan and the ism (particularly in building infrastruc- Mohamed A. El-Erian I have been coping with tennis elbow in ularly hard and aggravated the impact of herself from trade agreements with Asia, European Central Bank took their interest ture), lifting pockets of over-indebtedness is chief economic one arm for most of this year and have had joblessness, especially among the young. South America and the European Union rates negative — that is, below 0 percent (for example, in Greece and, pre-emp- adviser at Allianz, to rely much more on the other — exces- As the pressure on household incomes that the Obama administration had pains- — leaving some investors in the highly tively, for parts of student loans in the chairman of Presi- sively, it turns out. Entering the new year, increased, the prospects for consumer takingly negotiated. Mr. Trump’s victory unusual position of having to pay, rather United States), and improving cross-bor- dent Obama’s Global there are now limits on what I can lift, pull spending became more uncertain, and on Nov. 8 illustrated the growing influence than receive, interest income if they held der policy coordination (both at the global Development Coun- and twist with either arm. Should I fail to companies became less enthusiastic about of anti-establishment movements. government bonds. With that, around 30 level and in strengthening the eurozone’s cil and the former do something about this, I could spend 2017 investing in new plants and equipment, With fiscal and structural policies im- percent of the total stock of global govern- regional economic architecture). This chief executive and struggling with simple tasks, such as feeding into the cycle. Economic conditions paired — with both arms incapacitated — ment debt traded with negative yield. would unleash some of the considerable co-chief information carrying a briefcase. remained difficult, and the politics of anger central banks were the only game in town, During most of 2016, stock markets were cash idling on corporate balance sheets, in officer of Pimco. In a way, this is an apt analogy for the gained momentum. in an economy that needed high, sustain- His books include global economy’s disappointing perform- The need for greater fiscal policy flexi- able and inclusive growth. Since they enjoy “The Only Game in ance in 2016, pointing to what’s needed if bility attracted much more support among a considerable degree of political autono- The longer we rely on monetary policy to keep Town: Central Banks, we are to fight financial instability and economists in 2016. But the effort to trans- my, they felt morally obliged to do what- the global economy afloat, the more precarious Instability and Avoid- worsening economic and political malaise late that support into action was frustrated ever they could, even though they lacked ing the Next Col- in 2017. by social and political polarization that the proper tools for the task. For the most our future becomes — recession and more lapse.” It was a tepid, strange year for the essentially precluded any major economic part, theirs are limited to monetary meas- political unrest loom. global economy. An already prolonged and policy initiative. ures, where central banks influence the frustrating period of insufficient and scat- As growth remained stuck in low gear, economy by adjusting interest rates and tered growth simply continued as the falling short of people’s aspirations and the money supply to change financial world remained over-reliant on central dimming the hope of re-creating the econ- conditions and asset preferences. unusually immune to the uncertainty that that way turbocharging two critical transi- banks. omy of earlier years, the benefits of this Despite their willingness to take on has dominated the economic, financial, tions: from low growth to high and more Since 2010, the use of fiscal policy, where limited growth were perceived to have others’ policy responsibilities, central institutional and political landscapes. For inclusive growth, and from artificial finan- the government adjusts its spending and collected disproportionately in the pockets bankers were unable to deliver on their that, investors had liquidity to thank — cial stability to genuine financial instability. taxation to manage the economy, has been of those who were better off already. objectives, and for good reasons: The that is, the continuous injection of money But if politicians continue to fail voters, hindered by the perception, especially in Alarming pockets of under- and unemploy- supply impact of their tools, such as chang- into the markets, whether from central low growth will risk turning into recession, the United States and Europe, that such ment, particularly in Europe, became more ing interest rates or buying and selling banks’ unconventional measures or the artificial financial stability will give way to policies represent overreach. This has deeply embedded in the economy’s struc- market securities, could not lift structural recycling of corporate cash through merg- unsettling instability, and the politics of resulted in concerns about debt and unnec- ture, adding to the headwinds. Popular impediments to growth, such as a lack of ers, acquisitions and share buybacks. But anger could get a lot messier. The alterna- essary interference in the private sector, anger continued to rise, and mistrust of the infrastructure, fragmented tax regimes there is a limit to how long this counter- tives we face are stark, and time is press- ushering in a period of excessive austerity, “establishment” — both of government and excessive regulation; and the demand intuitive combination of unstable funda- ing. in terms of decreased government spend- and the business sector — deepened. Eco- influences, like decreasing interest rates to mentals and market calm can persist. The treatment for tennis elbow is rest. ing, in several advanced countries, such as nomics, finance and politics became in- spur consumption and investment, were While the exact timing of economic and Central bankers have been hitting the ball Greece, Portugal and Spain. This has also creasingly interlocked in a menacing, too weak to power the economy forward in financial turning points is inherently hard long enough — let’s avoid a painful and sidelined any sustained fiscal stimulus in self-perpetuating cycle of disruption. its current state. Yet, since they were the to predict, we could experience an impor- more difficult 2017.

19 things that happened for the first time in 2016 Surprising, serious and sometimes silly events. By Tricia Tisak

1. A royal trial 2. A legendary buy 3. The pope and the 4. Hugging hedgehogs in 5. Government-backed 6. First solar-powered Accused of tax fraud in connection The Dalian Wanda Group acquired patriarch Tokyo happiness airport in Africa with her husband’s business activi- the American film studio Legendary Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill I, Housed in the same building where In the United Arab Emirates, a An airport in South Africa is har- ties, Princess Cristina, who is sixth Entertainment for $3.5 billion in the leader of the Russian Orthodox people can pay to cuddle rabbits, a cheerful citizenry is a top priority. nessing the power of the sun with a in succession to the Spanish throne, January, making Wanda Group the Church, met in Cuba on Feb. 12, hedgehog cafe, Japan’s first, has Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed solar facility that satisfies about 40 became the first member of Spanish first Chinese firm to own a United marking the first time a bishop of opened in Tokyo. People are lining bin Rashid Al Maktoum in February percent of the airport’s energy royalty to stand trial in modern States studio. Legendary has been Rome and a Russian patriarch had up outside Harry — a play on the named Ohood Al Roumi the nation’s demand. The facility is the first of its memory. Her husband, the former behind such international block- met in nearly 1,000 years. The Japanese word for hedgehog — for first minister of happiness, giving kind in Africa and the second in the Olympic handball player Iñaki Ur- busters as “Jurassic World” and meeting was a diplomatic coup for 30-minute petting sessions that her a mandate to “create social world, following India’s Cochin dangarin, is accused of embezzling “Inception.” Though some have Francis, who has sought to ease cost 1,000 yen, or a little less than good and satisfaction.” In Septem- International Airport. The 3,000 6 million euros in public funds, or viewed the acquisition as a vanity tensions that can be traced back to $10. Places like Harry, which ber, Al Roumi sent 60 “chief happi- solar panels at George Airport, WOLFGANG KUMM/DPA VIA AGENCE about $6.7 million. Princess purchase, many in the industry see the deep-seated rift between the opened in February, fulfill a need for FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES ness and positivity officers” to the between Cape Town and Port Eliza- Cristina, who first appeared in court it as part of an inevitable trend of Eastern and Western branches of “iyasareru,” which means emotional At Japan’s first hedgehog United States and the United King- beth, cost more than $1 million to in January, has denied any wrongdo- increasing ties between Hollywood Christianity. Francis had already met or psychological recharging, in cafe, customers pay 1,000 dom for a five-month training pro- install. The first phase of construc- ing. The couple were barred from and the world’s most populous with other Orthodox leaders, includ- crowded urban dwellings where pet yen, or about $10, for a gram on the science of spreading tion began in March and took six official duties when news of the nation. ing Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholo- ownership may not be feasible for half-hour of cuddling the happiness. months to complete. Two more scandal first broke in 2011, and mew I of Constantinople, who is some people. creatures for emotional or South African airports also have stripped of their dukedom in 2015. considered the spiritual leader of psychological recharging. begun to incorporate solar power. the world’s Orthodox Christians. ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIGUEL PORLAN .. S6 | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION Turning Points

The year’s game changers in space

TURNING POINT: Astronomers announce the computer chip, and with a sail attached. continue to probe the universal questions. discovery of a potentially habitable planet in Powerful lasers acting on those sails will, What are those miles of blackness the the star system closest to Earth. in principle, push the nanocraft to speeds nanocraft will cruise through? What are reaching 20 percent of the speed of light — those years we will wait through? This more than 100 million miles an hour. year’s third breakthrough shed light on the Now, with the discovery of Proxima b, fundamental nature of space and time. BY YURI MILNER Starshot has its first target. What might we A few months before the announcement There were many forces dividing us in find there? of Breakthrough Starshot, physicists from Yuri Milner, a tech- 2016, nation from nation, faction from This year’s second breakthrough may the Laser Interferometer Gravitational- nology investor and faction, person from person. But there is a give us a hint. In July a team of evolution- Wave Observatory in the United States science philan- countervailing force that can draw us ary biologists led by Bill Martin at Hein- told the world that after years of waiting, thropist, was a together: the quest to answer fundamental rich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Ger- they had heard a “chirp” — a brief signal co-founder of the questions that have captivated humans many, reconstructed the genetic makeup of indicating the detection of gravitational investment firm DST since ancient times. “Luca” — the Last Universal Common waves in space. The waves were churned Global. Its portfolio At the forefront of this quest are scien- Ancestor. This was the single-celled organ- up by the collision of two black holes over has included many of tists — the true explorers of our era. Every ism that became the mother of all life on a billion years ago. the world’s most year, they map a little more of the un- Earth today. That chirp confirmed the predictions of prominent internet known, claim a little more of what seemed During the reconstruction, the biologists Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativ- companies, such as impenetrable. In 2016, they made three pored over millions of genes from thou- ity, which tells us that space and time are Facebook and Al- significant breakthroughs in understand- ibaba. In 2012, he ing the universe and our place in it. began a foundation In the last few years, NASA’s Kepler We live in an age of scientific revolution that may that became Break- space observatory and other missions become known as the New Age of Enlightenment. through Initiatives, have sparked a revolution in astronomy, arguably as fundamental as the Coperni- which includes a can revolution that spun us from our imag- $100 million project ined perch at the center of everything. So sands of species of microbes, isolating the not separate dimensions, but are bound to reinvigorate the far they have identified nearly 5,000 po- 355 most ancient ones — those that were together as a four-dimensional “space- search for extrater- tential planets beyond the solar system, 21 probably present in Luca. But these genes time.” This space-time is not a static back- restrial intelligence. of which are rocky planets that might be did more than pinpoint ancestry; they ground, but dynamic: It is warped by the habitable. These numbers imply that there sketched a portrait of the organism itself, presence of massive bodies. And Einstein’s could be billions of such planets in our showing us a creature that lived an ex- theory predicted that it can also flow. galaxy alone. “Home” no longer necessar- treme life. It metabolized hydrogen, not This means that the gravitational waves ily means Earth alone. oxygen, and clung to the walls of deep-sea the observatory detected were not waves In August, the European Southern Ob- volcanic vents. of fluid, energy or any known substance. servatory announced that astronomers Microbes sharing a high proportion of They were waves in space-time. If every- taking part in the Pale Red Dot campaign those 355 genes are still found in such thing we see in the universe were the MONIKA AICHELE had confirmed the existence of an Earth- vents today. And that’s exactly the envi- brush strokes of a painting, a gravitational like planet in the nearest star system to ronment where some theorists have placed wave would be a quiver in the canvas us. Its orbit lies within its star’s “habitable the origin of life itself. The discovery hints itself. zone,” neither too hot nor too cold, where that life may have begun in nonliving That chirp also inaugurated the field of water may be found in liquid form. “cells” that were naturally formed in the gravitational wave astronomy: the use of How to choose happiness Finding this planet, Proxima b, was a volcanic rock; and that the basic processes these waves as an observational tool, game-changer. It’s our next-door neighbor, of energy conversion, which continue advancing our power to explore further. It TURNING POINT: An executive at Ikea with the course and direction of their lives in cosmic terms. Astronomers plan to today in every one of our cells, were un- has been said that the discovery opens a declares that the West had reached “peak and who have seen what their own deter- study its composition and features to derway there before the first organic cell new window on the universe, but a new stuff,” with people owning too many things. mination can achieve can help create a determine whether it has water or an ever evolved. window would reveal only a different view. kinder, better world. atmosphere. While we know that Proxima We do not yet know the conditions on This is more like the evolution of an en- I’d like to share some ideas on how you b is in the habitable zone, we don’t yet Proxima b. It may have a relatively gentle tirely new sense organ. It will enable as- can spark joy in your own life. BY MARIE KONDO know if it’s truly habitable — or even climate, like Earth’s today. Or it may be tronomers to discern immensely violent Before you start, you must first get a inhabited. “tidally locked,” with one hemisphere events that were previously invisible to us, The Japanese word “tokimeku” means “to true sense of your problems. For example, This discovery came at a serendipitous permanently roasting in the glare of its such as collisions between the supermas- spark joy.” Someone who is adopting my when organizing clothes, I ask that you moment for me, just four months after the sun, the other frozen, facing empty space. sive black holes that lurk at the center of method of tidying must take a possession take out all your clothes and gather them physicist Stephen Hawking and I, with the But if life can emerge in the conditions of most galaxies. And it may offer a glimpse of hers and ask: “Does this spark joy for in one spot, so that you can visually com- support of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, hydrothermal vents, it cannot be ruled out of the universe as it was just after the big me?” This question is the sole basis for prehend how much you have. began a new space initiative called Break- even on a world of such extremes. bang. choosing what things to keep in one’s What we don’t often realize is that the through Starshot. It’s a research and engi- Starshot’s nanocraft could have instru- Our curiosity about all that we’ve discov- home and what to discard. furniture and closets in which we store our neering program attempting to design, ments that measure potential signatures of ered this year will fuel more break- But can we apply this notion of sparking clothing have a remarkable way of con- build and launch multiple “nanocraft” — life and beam them back to Earth. throughs, and that curiosity is felt not only joy on a larger scale? cealing truths we would rather not see (a tiny, laser-powered probes — that could Beyond Proxima b, our broader goal by the scientists at the vanguard of explo- We live in a disorganized and chaotic pilled sweater, for instance, that does not reach Proxima b within a generation. with Starshot is to foster a unifying, plan- ration, but by all of humanity. Confronting world, much of it outside our control. I bring any joy). It’s fine to take advantage Rather than building one huge vessel, etary quest for exploration and knowl- the fundamental questions is the greatest read recently that more than 80 billion of this masking effect on a small scale, but which would take tens of thousands of edge: to take our first steps — as a species adventure there is, and all of us — no articles of clothing are produced each year, when the amount of things that you don’t years to get there, we’re hoping to launch and a planet — into the galaxy. matter where we live or what we do — can but only a negligible few are recycled. As need increases — along with the time and many tiny probes, each no bigger than a Meanwhile, scientists here at home be invested in it. people’s buying habits shift and technology space that you devote to accumulating moves most everything to the cloud, peo- those things — you will find that it be- ple have been valuing experiences over comes harder to lie to yourself. material things. Some have even pointed We also work in much the same way. We out that we may have reached a critical often hide our problems inside the closet of point in terms of mass consumption — our hearts as if they never existed. When- we’ve reached peak stuff. ever my mind clouds over and I feel over- Though it sometimes seems like our whelmed, I immediately take out a sketch- things are threatening to take over our book. I write down all the emotions that I world, we can focus our energy and deter- feel and the possible reasons behind them mination on choosing what makes us across a blank page. happy, and ultimately change our lives. Once you’ve pinpointed problems, iden- Asking ourselves whether something tify specific solutions. For each problem, sparks joy seems so simple that many assign a task as concrete and specific as people wonder whether it can really be possible. Indeed, the ultimate goal of or- effective. The strength of the “spark joy” ganizing is to remedy the state of untidi- standard, however, lies in its ambiguity. ness and prevent its recurrence. Let’s consider, for argument’s sake, When choosing these actions, you must more precise standards for what to keep or never forget to ask yourself whether each discard, even for something as basic as action sparks joy and makes sense for you. clothing. Should the number of jackets you Once you’ve compiled a list, all you have to own be fewer than 10? Should you discard do is serenely execute these tasks. clothes that you haven’t worn in more than I also keep a to-do list in my sketchbook. three years? Each time I complete a task, I put a check Rules that adopt concise numerical mark next to it. As I complete the tasks values may appear to be more practical, one by one, I get a joyful feeling of light- which is why society often imposes spe- ness, as though I have finished tidying up cific standards on us, such as the amount my home. It sounds simple, but this is of money we should earn or the ideal body exactly the moment that sparks joy for me. weight we should maintain. But what The “spark joy” standard for tidiness makes one person happy, comfortable and depends on the individual. You cannot healthy varies for the next, so your individ- force people to tidy, nor should you try. But ual gold standard can be determined only there can be communal applications for Marie Kondo is the through your own perspective. This is this idea. More and more, I feel that the where the magic question — Does it spark question of whether something sparks joy founder of the Kon- joy? — comes into play. becomes all the more effective when peo- Mari Method and the Continually assessing whether your ple can exchange views and share a com- author of best-selling belongings spark joy allows you to hone mon vision for the future. books “The Life- your judgment. Over time, your ability to Understanding and appreciating Changing Magic of identify what is worth keeping will extend tokimeku in the midst of a confusing and Tidying Up: The from your home to your career to your disorderly world will allow us to clarify our Japanese Art of relationships. You will be able to discern ideals, and help us gain confidence in our Decluttering and what makes you happiest and most con- ability to lead productive lives and develop Organizing” and tented in other aspects of your life. a sense of responsibility to those around “Spark Joy: An I don’t mean to suggest that tidy homes us. From there, we can act with focus and Illustrated Master full of people who act in accordance with certainty while improving our lives and Class on the Art of what sparks joy will cure our planet’s ills. our beautiful — if still very messy — Organizing and Yet I believe that people who are pleased world. Tidying Up.” JEFFREY DECOSTER

7. A possible new way to 8. First SpaceX rocket 9. Wild tiger population on 10. Paralyzed man regains 11. A sober state visit to break down plastic landing at sea the rise control of hand Hiroshima Japanese scientists discovered SpaceX, founded by the tech entre- The World Wildlife Fund reported in An American who was paralyzed President Obama became the first bacteria outside a bottle-recycling preneur Elon Musk, successfully April that the number of tigers living from the chest down has regained sitting president to pay an official facility that can eat a common type landed its Falcon 9 rocket on a in the wild is rising for the first time control of his right hand, thanks to a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, where the of plastic, raising the possibility for drone ship for the first time on April in a century. The global tiger popu- chip implanted in his brain. Accord- United States dropped an atomic new methods to dispose of it. Ac- 8. Mastering the maneuver means lation increased to about 3,890 in ing to a study published in May in bomb in 1945, hoping to end World cording to a study published in that SpaceX can cut costs by reus- 2016, from 3,200 in 2010, with the journal Nature, this is the first War II. On May 27, the president Science in March, the microbe ing rockets and remain an important growth seen in at least four coun- example of limb reanimation in a laid a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Ideonella sakaiensis can convert part of the United States’ space SPACEX tries: Bhutan, India, Nepal and person with quadriplegia. The chip Memorial Park and exchanged DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES polyethylene terephthalate — most program. SpaceX has landed a SpaceX, founded by the tech Russia. Despite the uptick, conser- allows the patient to bypass his emotional handshakes and em- President Barack Obama and commonly used in plastic water rocket on the ship in the Atlantic entrepreneur Elon Musk, vationists warn that tiger habitats spinal injury by using his thoughts to braces with survivors of the bomb- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of bottles because it is lightweight but Ocean several more times since successfully landed its Falcon continue to shrink and that tigers control the muscles in his right hand ing. The occasion required a bal- Japan took part in a wreath- durable — into an energy source. then. However, the company suf- 9 rocket on a drone ship for the remain a favorite target for poach- and fingers. However, this technol- ance between honoring the victims laying ceremony at the Hiroshi- Critics caution that more research fered a setback in September when first time in April. ers, particularly in Southeast Asia. ogy is not a viable cure for paralysis of the attack and considering the ma Peace Memorial in Japan in must be done before it can be a rocket exploded while being At the turn of the 20th century, because he must be connected to atrocities that the Japanese military May. determined whether the bacteria fueled at a Cape Canaveral, Fla., there were an estimated 100,000 computers in a lab for it to work. inflicted upon neighboring countries can be used as a viable way to launchpad. tigers living in the wild. leading up to and during the war. degrade polyethylene terephthalate. .. THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016| S7 Global Agenda 2017

The long, hard road to peace The rage of 2016

COHEN, FROM PAGE S1 Constitution created precisely to rein in a TURNING POINT: Colombians reject a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of not least in Egypt and the Gulf states — demagogue. Still, Mr. Trump has enor- Colombia. are exulting at Mr. Trump’s victory. mous powers, a Republican-controlled It is too early to say what Mr. Trump will Congress and a mission to make America do and how many of his wild campaign great again, whatever that means or takes. promises he will keep, but it’s safe to pre- The struggle to preserve liberalism will BY INGRID BETANCOURT dict turbulence. Irascibility, impetuosity be long. It may well be led now by the likes For most Colombians, the civil war that and inattention define him, however cur- of Angela Merkel in Germany and Justin has been waging in our nation for the past tailed they may prove to be by his entou- Trudeau in Canada. The mantle of custodi- 50 years is an abstract concept. It is fought rage and the responsibilities of power. He an of the well-being of the free world in remote areas of the countryside, while is, for now, in over his head. sounds like a rip-off to Mr. Trump, who around 75 percent of Colombians live in NATO will grow weaker. Baltic States thinks deals and little else. It could well be urban areas. The perception is that as long will feel more vulnerable. Syria’s Bashar that America has passed the torch. as you stay within city limits, you won’t be al-Assad, backed by a Putin-Trump en- Western democracies are in the midst of subject to violence from guerrilla forces. tente, will grow stronger. Chinese-Ameri- an upheaval they only dimly grasp. Virtual The danger and insecurity most Co- can trade tensions will sharpen, in approxi- direct democracy through social media lombians experience come from urban mate sync with military tensions in the has outflanked representative democracy. organized crime, not uniformed, armed East and South China seas. The Iran nucle- The impact of the smartphone on the combatants. ar deal, painstakingly negotiated by the human psyche is as yet scarcely under- From 1999 to 2008, Venezuela, Chile, major powers, could unravel, making the stood; its addictiveness is treacherous and Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecua- Middle East exponentially more danger- it can be the enemy of thought. Mr. Trump dor and Paraguay all elected leftist and ous. Any jihadi attack or other assault on hijacked the Republican Party like a man center-left presidents, a chain of events America will not be met with restraint; Mr. borrowing a dinner jacket for an evening. known as the “pink tide.” During this Trump seems to regard nukes as an under- His campaign moved through Twitter to period, in 2002, I ran for the Colombian used asset. the aroused masses; it had no use or need presidency under a center-left banner to Fossil fuels will make a comeback. The for conventional channels. The major fight corruption and social injustice. While world’s Paris-enshrined commitment to political parties in Britain and the United I was campaigning in a zone declared to be fight climate change will be undermined. States will have to prove their relevance secured by the Colombian army, I was The approximately 65 million migrants on again. kidnapped by the nation’s Marxist guerril- the move, about one-third of them ref- Democracies, it is clear, have not been las, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of ugees, will find shelter and dignity scarce delivering to the less privileged, who were Colombia, or FARC. as xenophobic nationalism moves into the disenfranchised or discarded in the swirl Abduction was an industry for the political mainstream across Central Eu- of technology’s advance. A lot of thought is rebels, and I represented everything they rope and elsewhere. Technology’s implaca- now needed to find ways to restore faith in hated: I was a politician, and they believed ble advance, and the great strides being liberal, free-market societies; to show that that all politicians were corrupt. My name made by artificial intelligence, will test Mr. they can be fairer and more equitable and was linked to the oligarchy, I was edu- Trump’s promise to bring manufacturing offer more opportunities across the social cated, and I could speak foreign lan- jobs back to America. Some forms of em- spectrum. Germany, with its successful guages: I was therefore someone to be ployment are gone forever, and not even a balance of capitalism and solidarity, its feared and tamed. I was a dual French- self-styled savior can conjure their return. respect for the labor force and its commit- Colombian citizen running for president, The Trans-Pacific Partnership already ments to both higher education and techni- thus suspected of serving foreign interests, looks dead; other trade deals, including cal training, offers one model. The rage of and I was a woman, therefore manipula- the North American Free Trade Agree- 2016 will not abate by itself. tive and difficult. They held me for six and ment, which symbolized the ever-more- The liberal elites’ arrogance and igno- a half years. open trading system of past decades, could rance has been astounding. It is time to Beyond tearing us away from our nor- be nixed or substantially diluted. listen to the people who voted for change, mal lives and holding us in the jungle, the Will all this assuage the people’s ire? be humble and think again. That, of guerrillas used a regime of deprivation on Perhaps Mr. Trump really does have some course, does not mean succumbing to the me and my fellow hostages, hoping to fairy dust he can scatter for a while. But of hatemongers and racists among them: break our will. They subjected us to myri- course “the people” were only part of a They must be fought every inch of the way. EDEL RODRIGUEZ ad forms of abuse, including brutal vio- divided population, millions and millions of Nor does it mean succumbing to a post- lence, extreme pain, humiliation and other whom did not want — and will resist — the truth society: Facts are the linchpins of forms of psychological torture, using their global nationalist and authoritarian lurch. progress. But so brutal a comeuppance ideology to justify their behavior. Mr. Santos to sign the peace agreement in They will do so on the streets, in the cannot be met by more of the same. I fear My battle during those six and a half Cartagena days before the referendum. I was kidnapped by Colombia’s Marxist courts, via the press and through the for my children’s world, more than I ever years was to survive. I didn’t develop Colombians felt that was too little, too late. checks and balances the framers of the imagined possible. Stockholm syndrome: The way they After the referendum failed, the FARC guerrillas and held for six and a half treated me was so extreme that I could not leaders had to accept higher levels of years. Here is how the country can forget that I was the enemy. I attempted to accountability. A new and more severe deal move forward. escape many times, and if I were still was reached in November by Mr. Santos trapped in that jungle today, I would con- and the FARC leaders. tinue plotting to break free. The Nobel Committee’s message was evolve into a people equipped to live in a During my years in captivity, Colombia’s also to the “No” movement, including peaceful society. political landscape changed dramatically former President Álvaro Uribe, who can no Any signed agreement between Mr. from the one I had known. The nation took longer bluntly dismiss any peace agree- Santos and the FARC will be the corner- a political turn at odds with the leftist ment. Had the peace referendum suc- stone upon which Colombians will be able surge shaping the region and elected a ceeded, it would have done so by a very to build. In this process, we cannot forget conservative leader determined to wage narrow margin, thus dividing the country the lessons of our past. Colombians have a war and eradicate communist subversion. long history of secret maneuverings, with By the time I was released in 2008, and dark forces sabotaging peace agreements despite the government’s undeniable from within. In previous peace attempts, military achievements, the country was selective genocide against opposition still moored by FARC’s presence and its leaders ruined our chances. treacherous drug trade. I rejoined my As we move forward, we need to recog- family and began the long process of re- nize that we all come from different start- building my life. ing points. There is a generation gap, Eight years later, as communist Cuba where young Colombians are determined was normalizing diplomatic relations with to free themselves from the hatred of their the United States, the FARC — the oldest forefathers. There is a regional gap too: leftist guerrilla group remaining on the People in the countryside voted for the continent — appeared to finally begin PRESIDENCY OF COLOMBIA referendum; people in the cities voted laying down its weapons and severing its Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by the against. ties with the drug trade. In August 2016, FARC rebels in 2002 and was physically and Constructing peace means finding bal- ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES the FARC reached a peace agreement with psychologically tortured during her six years ance in our demands. Any deal needs to the Colombian government as a result of of captivity in the jungle. reflect the concerns of those who have As tensions have risen across Europe over the influx of migrants, nationalist and extreme right-wing painstaking negotiations. Shockingly, been skeptical and voted No in the refer- groups have gained ground. Anti-immigration vigilantes on patrol in Tampere, Finland. Below, sup- however, the Colombian people rejected endum, without surrendering to the veto porters cheer as Donald J. Trump, now president-elect, speaks at a campaign rally in Colorado. the referendum on the deal several weeks in half — much like the recent so-called of those who are benefiting from the war. later, another sign of the shift to the right Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom It also involves hard choices by the in Latin America. — but with the added risk of rekindling war’s victims, who must give up on venge- How to explain this vote? Is it because violence. ance and embrace the gift of reconciliation human beings by their very nature tend to Unlike Brexit, though, the Colombian as the token of a better future. I have protect their identity through the hatred of referendum had no final outcome: By experienced our war firsthand; I person- other groups? I don’t want to believe that. declining this particular agreement, Co- ally know how challenging this is. I too We have to be better. When President Juan lombians opened the door for a new deal. have been tempted to focus solely on my Manuel Santos, who led the negotiations, Mr. Santos turned the rejection of the grief and fuel myself with acrimony Ingrid Betancourt is was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace referendum into an opportunity to unite against my captors for the anguish my a Colombian poli- Prize, the international community was the country by forcing the agreement’s children endured as they grew up without tician and an anticor- signaling to all Colombians their responsi- strongest adversaries to sit at the negotia- their mother, for the death of my father bility to find peace. tion table. No one dares to admit a prefer- after a heart failure caused by my capture ruption and human It was also a message to the FARC ence for war anymore. But by opening the and for the painful memories seared in my rights activist. She is rebels, who needed to show real contrition Pandora’s box of new negotiations, the brain that are still haunting me in my the author of “Even in order to demonstrate to Colombians the opposition had bought time. The new daily life. But I have to trust that we are Silence Has an End: authenticity of their commitment to the November deal was finally approved by bringing to the table something much My Six Years of agreement. The FARC is no Nelson Man- the Colombian Congress, but presidential bigger than our own pain: a guarantee Captivity in the dela, and in September, Colombians elections to be held in 2018 will most likely that our children will not suffer what we Colombian Jungle.” wanted to see its members in jail, not in define the true outcome of any possible did. She has received office. The FARC had stated they would peace with the FARC. When we succeed, the end of this half- multiple international not accept even a day in jail, though they Colombians therefore have to cling to century-long battle will illuminate the path awards, including the asked for forgiveness for some particular their resolve to find peace. Our hope has to forward for other war-torn nations such as Légion d’Honneur cases of kidnapping and murder, and men- be placed not in a short-term political Iraq, Syria and Israel. But until we divest and the 2008 Con- tioned this in general terms when their outcome, but in the success of the long- ourselves of our resentments and furies, cord Prince of Asturi- leader, Rodrigo Londoño, sat down with term process that has just begun. We must we will remain in captivity. as Award. DAMON WINTER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

12. Climate change 13. A celestial dance of 14. Finding ‘Dory’ 15. A hard day’s night tube 16. Some Olympic firsts gold medals, breaking a record set milestone in Antarctica sorts, caught on camera — in captivity For the first time, the London Un- at the Rio Games by the ancient Grecian Leonidas in For the first time in four million The spacecraft Juno captured a A conservation group announced in derground — the world’s oldest ■ For the first time in Olympic his- 152 B.C. years, carbon dioxide levels in heavenly sight in July as it ap- late July that researchers had suc- subway system — is keeping some tory, a team of refugees was al- ■ In addition to Singapore, eight NICOLE BENGIVENO/THE NEW YORK TIMES Antarctica have reached 400 parts proached Jupiter: video of the cessfully bred blue tang in captivity of its busiest lines running all night lowed to compete — a decision other countries got their first taste per million, according to the Na- planet’s largest four moons circling for the first time. In previous at- A conservation group an- on weekends, joining just a handful made in light of refugee crises of Olympic gold: Bahrain, Fiji, Ivory tional Oceanic and Atmospheric the massive orb. It’s the first time tempts, larvae had survived for only nounced in July that for the of cities that offer late-night, week- around the world. The International Coast, Jordan, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, first time researchers were able Administration. Levels of carbon that the world has seen the actual days after hatching. Marine biolo- end-only subway service. The new Olympic Committee chose 10 ath- Tajikistan and Vietnam. to breed blue tang in captivity. letes to represent four countries ■ Fehaid Al-Deehani was the first dioxide, a byproduct of burning movement of these moons. The gists were worried that the fish Marine biologists had worried hours began on the Central and fossil fuels, have been on the rise in Italian scientist, Galileo Galilei, could become endangered because that the popularity of the Victoria lines on Aug. 19. According torn by war and civil unrest: Syria, athlete to win gold as an independ- the atmosphere since the start of discovered the four moons — of the popularity of the Disney Disney character Dory, a blue to the city’s transit agency, the South Sudan, Ethiopia and the ent athlete. The Kuwaiti national the Industrial Revolution. The Ant- Callisto, Europa, Ganymede and Io character Dory, a blue tang who first tang, would endanger it. additional service should shorten Democratic Republic of Congo. competed under the Olympic flag arctic region was the last place in — in 1610, finding scientific evi- appeared in the 2003 film “Finding the average trip in the wee hours of ■ The swimmer Joseph Schooling after his home country was banned the world where levels had not dence that supported the then- Nemo” and who was the star of the the night by 20 minutes, and about won Singapore’s first gold medal, from international competition by reached this mark. It was first controversial theory of heliocen- sequel “Finding Dory,” released in 200,000 riders are expected to take beating his idol Michael Phelps in the International Olympics Commit- measured at the South Pole Obser- trism. June 2016. After “Nemo,” which was advantage of it. the 100-meter butterfly. Phelps, tee in 2015. The I.O.C. maintains vatory on May 23. about a clown fish, was released, however, did not walk away from the that Kuwaiti legislation undermines sales at pet stores of those fish 2016 Games empty-handed. He the independence of the Olympic increased by 40 percent. won his 12th and 13th individual movement in that country. .. S8 | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION Turning Points

To heal a nation, lead from the middle

TURNING POINT: Donald J. Trump is elected sion of apartheid as a person of mixed To the extremists and true believers of the 45th president of the United States. ethnicity. The lines between black and any cause, there is an idea that moderation white were clearly drawn and enforced and compromise are a prelude to selling with guns and tanks, but because I am out and giving up, when in fact the oppo- neither black nor white, I was forced to site is true — moderation brings radical BY TREVOR NOAH live between those lines. I was forced to ideas to the center to make them possible. Born in South Africa When I took over “The Daily Show” from communicate across those lines. I was Nelson Mandela never wavered in his to an interracial Jon Stewart in 2015, I was surprised to forced to learn how to approach people, demand for “one man, one vote”; indeed, couple at a time learn that my job as a late-night comedy and problems, with nuance. If I hadn’t, I he endured 27 years in prison to make that when such relation- host was not merely to entertain but to wouldn’t have survived. notion a reality. But when our nation stood ships were illegal eviscerate — to attack, crush, demolish America, I’ve found, doesn’t like nuance. on the brink of civil war, Mr. Mandela under apartheid, and destroy the opponents of liberal, pro- Either black people are criminals, or cops spoke to white South Africans in a lan- Trevor Noah weaves gressive America. Very quickly, people are racist — pick one. It’s us versus them. guage that soothed their fears and re- observations about from some quarters — mostly those same You’re with us, or you’re against us. This assured them that they would have a place race and ethnicity liberal progressives — criticized me for not national mentality is fueled by the hysteria in our new country. He spoke to militant into his comedy. maintaining the minimum acceptable of a 24-hour news cycle, by the ideological black nationalists in a way that calmed He has hosted levels of daily evisceration that were es- various television tablished by my predecessor. shows in South The truth is that Jon never liked being A divisive candidacy has obscured the fact Africa, including labeled the Great Eviscerator. He didn’t that the vast majority of Americans want “Tonight with Trevor think it was healthy, and he always tried to Noah,” and is cur- think about the details of issues with a many of the same things. healthy dose of skepticism before going on rently host of “The air and putting his ideas out into the world. Daily Show,” based in But through the lens of the internet, that’s silos of social media and by the structure their tempers but did not diminish their New York City. not what people saw. In the early days of of the country’s politics. The two-party pride. If Mr. Mandela’s efforts had failed, the blogosphere and YouTube and social system seems to actively encourage divi- South Africa’s peaceful transition to de- media, people took Jon’s most strident sion where none needs to exist. mocracy would never have come to pass. commentary and made it go viral with This has never been more apparent than Sadly, given what we’ve seen in this clickbait headlines, blowing those seg- during Donald J. Trump’s campaign. With election, Mr. Trump’s victory has only ments way out of proportion, compared his flagrant misogyny and racist appeals to amplified the voices of extremism. It has with the more thoughtful segments that fearful voters, Mr. Trump succeeded in made their arguments more simplistic and made up most of the television show. And, dividing an electorate already primed to more emotional at a time when they ought unfortunately, when we look back today, turn against itself. His embittering candi- to be growing more subtle and more com- the evisceration (and exasperation) is dacy obscured the fact that the vast major- plex. We should give no quarter to intoler- what most people remember. ity of Americans, both Republican and ance and injustice in this world, but we can The experience of stepping into Jon’s Democrat, wanted many of the same be steadfast on the subject of Mr. Trump’s shoes brought on enormous culture shock things: good jobs, decent homes, access to unfitness for office while still reaching out for me. In South Africa, where I come opportunity and, above all, respect. to reason with his supporters. We can be from, we also use comedy to critique and The past year has been so polarizing and unwavering in our commitment to racial analyze, and while we don’t let our poli- noxious that even I find myself getting equality while still breaking bread with the ticians off the hook, we don’t eviscerate caught up in the extreme grandstanding same racist people who’ve oppressed us. I one another. If anything, my stand-up and vitriol. But with extremes come dead- know it can be done because I had no shows back home are a place where we lock and the death of progress. Instead of choice but to do it, and it is the reason I am can push away the history of apartheid’s speaking in measured tones about what where I am today. color classifications — where black, white, unites us, we are screaming at each other When you grow up in the middle, you colored and Indian people use laughter to about what divides us — which is exactly see that life is more in the middle than it is deal with shared trauma and pain. In what authoritarian figures like Mr. Trump on the sides. The majority of people are in PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE NOAH FAMILY South Africa, comedy brings us together. want: Divided people are easier to rule. the middle, the margin of victory is almost In America, it pulls us apart. That was, after all, the whole point of always in the middle, and very often the Trevor Noah, far left, with his cousins in Johannesburg in an undated photo. Top, Mr. Noah, at I grew up under the harsh racial oppres- apartheid. truth is there as well, waiting for us. 3, with his mother Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah.

A review of what’s ahead Scarlett Johansson on a changing Hollywood The news that will definitely happen in 2017 Pushing boundaries and admitting vulnerability

The world has watched you grow up on It sounds like you like a challenge. TURNING POINT: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences broadens the Oscar screen. Over the course of that time, the I’ve always been very competitive, and a part voting pool to include more women and roles available to women in real life have of that is pushing your boundaries — taking a minorities. changed a lot. Is the process of filmmaking risk, and being able to live with the loss that starting to reflect that? comes with taking a risk. We see more female directors, more women in various departments on set. If you looked As the Black Widow in “The Avengers,” The movie business is changing. Women around a film set even 10 years ago, it was we see your ability to convey vulnerability have become increasingly visible as direc- basically a bunch of dudes; maybe in the despite the character’s strength. tors (Kathryn Bigelow, Lisa Cholodenko, wardrobe department or in the hair and make- Admitting that you’re vulnerable is a very Ava DuVernay) and successful producers up department there would be women. Now powerful thing. There’s something to be said (Reese Witherspoon’s production company you see more female camera assistants, for a character having a quiet strength about Pacific Standard scored huge hits with cinematographers, grips. them. “Gone Girl” and “Wild”; Sharmeen Obaid- In the job that I’m on now, “Rock That Body,” So many contradictory things make up a Chinoy won an Oscar in 2016 for the docu- there are a number of women working as crew multidimensional personality. Breathing life mentary short “A Girl in the River: The members, as opposed to many other produc- into a character means celebrating and recog- Price of Forgiveness”). Yet many actresses tions that I’ve been on. nizing the fullness of them — that you can be are still paid less than their male peers, a lot of things at one time, that it doesn’t have and the Academy Awards of 2016 were Is this changing the experience of acting to be black or white. widely criticized for the lack of nonwhite for you? nominees. It’s nice to have a diverse group of people so With more women on set, do you think you Only a few A-list actresses have been that it doesn’t become so one-note — to have have more flexibility to explore all the celebrated for their ability to throw a female energy on set, to have different types dimensions of the character? punches or show menace on the screen, of people and different vibes, and a more Maybe the audience is more open to these but that’s beginning to change as well. balanced creative environment. richer character storylines than they were Scarlett Johansson, 32, received critical before, so there’s more of an opportunity to acclaim for her role as an alien on the hunt What draws you to a role? bring that to the screen. They want to see in “Under the Skin” and will appear in 2017 I’ve always had the same principle for choosing things that reflect the experiences that they’re as a crime-fighting policewoman in “Ghost roles, which is to try and make movies that I having. As a culture we may be becoming in the Shell.” Her superstar turn as the would pay to see. As I get older that’s meant more accepting of differences and of the full Black Widow in “The Avengers” series has different things. spectrum that life gives us. helped to make her the highest-grossing I’ve never been a superhero-comic fan When you see films from 50 years ago, the actress of all time, pulling in over $3.3 exactly. I did “Iron Man 2” because I loved characters reflected what people wanted to billion for movie studios, according to Box what [the director Jon] Favreau did with “Iron project to the world, which was very black and Office Mojo. Still, as of this fall, she was the Man.” It spoke to me as someone who was not white and guarded, or idealistic or whatever. only woman in the top 20 on Mojo’s list. a fan of that genre, and I saw a future in build- It’s not that way anymore. The films that have In an interview, Ms. Johansson dis- ing a character with Marvel. a better audience reaction now are the ones cusses how women’s roles in real life are The idea of doing a franchise was exciting where the characters are flawed. And I think changing their roles in film. The conversa- — being able to play a character over many that’s why [the “Avengers” writer and director] tion has been edited and abridged. installments, the challenge of playing a charac- Joss Whedon has been so successful in that —PATTI SONNTAG ter who had a built-in fan base, and trying to realm, because he loves the flaws, he cele- put my stamp on that character. brates them. He likes to pick apart their weak- nesses. Some roles that you choose are very different, like in “Under the Skin” — your What experiences would you like to create predatory alien uses the men’s sexuality for your daughter on screen? against them, but she’s not flirtatious. My daughter is still young. Right now I think we Is it important to try these things? both share the dream that I will someday be a I look for projects with filmmakers who want to Disney princess, but it’s probably not going to make things that give the audience a fresh happen. I’ve been asking for that job for the experience. past 20 years, and nobody has booked me. PATRICK CHAPPATTE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Coming Up

■ Simone Manuel’s victory in the 17. The first of many flights 18. Zombies take over 19. Chinese universities A new face to grace the Starbucks sets its sights on 100-meter freestyle secured her a to Cuba South Korea rank in top 100 list $20 Italy place in history as the first African- In yet another sign of thawing rela- For the first time, a zombie movie In 2016, universities in mainland Starbucks has more than 24,000 DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES Move over, Andrew Jackson. Treas- American woman to win an indi- tions between the United States and made in South Korea became a China ranked among the top 100 in ury Department officials announced stores in 70 countries, but one Usain Bolt of Jamaica looked vidual Olympic gold in swimming. Cuba, JetBlue Flight 387 departed summer smash, beating box-office the world. The Academic Ranking of plans to replace the portrait of the country has escaped the siren call back at rival Andre De Grasse ■ Giulia Steingruber won a bronze from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and records in that country, including World Universities, released in seventh president with that of the of its famous green mermaid — medal in the vault final, making of Canada in the men’s 200- touched down in Santa Clara, Cuba, the highest single-day gross of $9.9 September, ranked Tsinghua Univer- that is, until early next year. The meter semifinal at the Summer abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the her the first Swiss woman to win a on Aug. 31. It was the first direct million. “Train to Busan” focuses on sity 58th, while Peking University chain announced that it would open Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in $20 bill. Tubman will be the first gymnastics medal. August. Bolt ultimately went on commercial flight between the the plight of a businessman trav- trailed at 71st place. For the 14th black woman to appear on United stores in Italy, where coffee is a way ■ The first Iranian woman to medal to win that final, along with countries since the 1960s, and two eling with his young daughter year in a row, Harvard University States paper currency. Martha of life. The first Italian Starbucks are in the Olympics, Kimia Alizadeh winning two other gold medals. Cuban-American pilots were at the aboard a high-speed bullet train hit retained the No. 1 spot. Western Washington, wife of George Wash- expected to open in Milan, where Zenoorin, won bronze in taek- helm. According to the Transporta- with a terrifyingly fast zombie out- universities have tended to domi- ington, and Pocahontas appeared the chief executive, Howard Schultz, wondo. tion Department, up to eight carri- break. South Korean film critics nate the list, which has been put on certificates in the 1800s. The $5 said that he was inspired more than ■ Usain Bolt of Jamaica became ers are expected to offer direct note that the movie resonates with together by an independent higher- and $10 bills will also be reconfig- three decades ago to revolutionize the first man to win three gold flights to Havana by the end of a populace that is disenchanted education consultancy since 2003. ured in the coming years, with how Americans take their coffee. medals in three events — the 2016. with government officials, who are women added to the backs of both 100-meter, 200-meter and 100- portrayed in the movie as trying to bills. meter relay race — for the third cover up the outbreak. consecutive Olympics.