The World This Year 2016 Atul Singh 2 Atul Singh (Founder, CEO & Editor-in-Chief) Abul-Hasanat Siddique (Co-Founder, COO & Managing Editor) Anna Pivovarchuk (Co-Founder, Deputy Managing & Culture Editor) Fair Observer | 461 Harbor Blvd | Belmont | CA 94002 | USA www.fairobserver.com | [email protected] The views expressed in this publication are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy. Copyright © 2017 Fair Observer Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher. International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2372-9112 3 CONTENTS Author 9 About Fair Observer 10 Share Your Perspective 11 The Continuing Story 12 Something is Rotten in Saudi Arabia 14 January 3, 2016 Explosive Situations in North Korea, China and Germany 17 January 10, 2016 Obama Rejects Politics Based on Race or Religion 21 January 17, 2016 Global Economy in Trouble as Markets Tumble 25 January 24, 2016 Italy-EC Deal Puts Taxpayers at Risk 28 January 31, 2016 Donald Trump is Scary, Ted Cruz is Terrifying 33 February 7, 2016 Death of the Godfather 37 February 14, 2016 A Troubled Marriage in Europe 40 February 21, 2016 Peace For Our Time 44 February 28, 2016 4 Can the Dragon Keep Breathing Fire? 48 March 6, 2016 Super Mario’s QE and Lula Meets Police 52 March 13, 2016 Turkey Guards the Gates of Vienna 56 March 20, 2016 Obama Visits Cuba to Salsa With Castro 60 March 27, 2016 Yes, Nuclear Terrorism is a Real Threat 64 April 3, 2016 Taxes, the Rich and the Panama Papers 68 April 10, 2016 Earthquakes Devastate Ecuador and Japan 72 April 17, 2016 “Rain Man” Says Apple Should Pay More Tax 75 April 24, 2016 Sadly, Donald Trump Has a Point 79 May 1, 2016 Arise Mayor Sadiq Khan and Champions Leicester City 83 May 8, 2016 Dilma Ousted as Bleak Future Bedevils Brazil 88 May 15, 2016 Merger Mania Marks Rising Risks to Global Economy 92 May 22, 2016 5 Vietnam, Japan, the Asia Pivot and the Obama Doctrine 96 May 29, 2016 Germany Declares Turkey Guilty of “Armenian Genocide” 101 June 5, 2016 Gay Nightclub Shooting Shakes America 105 June 12, 2016 To “Put Britain First” Terrorist Murders Jo Cox 109 June 19, 2016 Brexit Ends UK’s Troubled Marriage With EU 114 June 26, 2016 The Age of Fear, Anger, Hate and Terror 120 July 3, 2016 Dallas Shines Light on America’s Dark Soul 125 July 10, 2016 Blood on the Bosporus as Purge Follows Failed Coup 130 July 17, 2016 The Age of Donald Trump 136 July 24, 2016 Two-Party System Begins to Crack 141 July 31, 2016 Refugees Saving Grace of Rotten Rio Olympics 147 August 7, 2016 Might Thailand Turn Into Paradise Lost? 151 August 14, 2016 6 Bikinis or Burkinis? 157 August 21, 2016 Army, America and Akhtar Confront Pakistan 163 August 28, 2016 Peace in Colombia After 52 Years of War 169 September 4, 2016 15 Years After 9/11 175 September 11, 2016 Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid 182 September 18, 2016 War in Syria is a Never-Ending Tragedy 187 September 25, 2016 Voters Say No to Colombia Peace Deal 193 October 2, 2016 Donald Trump is the Ultimate Ugly American 197 October 9, 2016 Thai King’s Death Raises Royal Question 204 October 16, 2016 Philippines Spurns the US to Flirt with China 209 October 23, 2016 Climate Change Matters and So Do Other Species 214 October 30, 2016 High Court Throws a Googly at Brexit 220 November 6, 2016 7 Why Donald Trump Won 225 November 13, 2016 World Trade Hits Headwinds 233 November 20, 2016 Fidel Castro Divides Opinion 239 November 27, 2016 Dirty Oil Drives the Global Economy 245 December 4, 2016 Italian Referendum Puts Banks and Brussels in Focus 250 December 11, 2016 A Terrible Tragedy Afflicts Aleppo 255 December 18, 2016 Protests in Poland for Freedom and Democracy 261 December 25, 2016 8 AUTHOR Atul Singh is the founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Fair Observer. He teaches political economy at the University of California, Berkeley and at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar where he also teaches world history. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford on the Radhakrishnan Scholarship and did an MBA with a triple major in finance, strategy and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School. Singh worked as a corporate lawyer in London and led special operations as an elite officer in India’s volatile border areas where he had many near-death experiences. He has also been a poet playwright, sportsman, mountaineer and a founder of many organizations. Singh’s knowledge is eclectic, and his friends often joke that it comes in handy when access to Google is limited. 9 ABOUT FAIR OBSERVER Fair Observer is a US-based nonprofit media organization that aims to inform and educate global citizens of today and tomorrow. We publish a crowdsourced multimedia journal that provides a 360° view to help you make sense of the world. We also conduct educational and training programs for students, young professionals and business executives on subjects like journalism, geopolitics, the global economy, diversity and more. We provide context, analysis and multiple perspectives on world news, politics, economics, business and culture. Our multimedia journal is recognized by the US Library of Congress with International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) 2372-9112. We have a crowdsourced journalism model that combines a wide funnel with a strong filter. This means that while anyone can write for us, every article we publish has to meet our editorial guidelines. Already, we have more than 1,800 contributors from over 70 countries, including former prime ministers and Nobel laureates, leading academics and eminent professionals, journalists and students. Fair Observer is a partner of the World Bank and the United Nations Foundation. 10 SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE Join our community of more than 1,800 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world. Remember, we produce a crowdsourced multimedia journal and welcome content in all forms: reports, articles, videos, photo features and infographics. Think of us as a global community like Medium, Al Jazeera English or The Guardian’s Comment is Free on world affairs. You could also compare us to The Huffington Post, except that we work closely with our contributors, provide feedback and enable them to achieve their potential. We have a reputation for being thoughtful and insightful. The US Library of Congress recognizes us as a journal with ISSN 2372-9112 and publishing with us puts you in a select circle. For further information, please visit www.fairobserver.com or contact us at [email protected]. 11 The Continuing Story Throughout 2016, I continued to write every week, and another publication has emerged in a year marked by Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory. In 2015, I narrated the story of how I started penning The World This Week at Fair Observer. As I said 12 months ago, the credit for this particular exercise goes to Rolf Dienst, an eminent German venture capitalist. Of course, I have to thank other people too. My parents are the start of the queue. They gave me a tremendous education, supported me at all times and put up with my difficult ways. My brother comes next. He has been my sparring partner for years and, were it not for him, I would not be able to write the way I do. For this publication, I owe a debt of gratitude to Abul-Hasanat Siddique, the managing editor of Fair Observer. As Sam Tully would say, Abul-Hasanat is a top man. He does everything outstandingly well and it has been an honor to work with him over the years. It has also been a privilege to work with Anna Pivovarchuk, the deputy managing editor of Fair Observer. Her intellectual rigor and understanding of nuance brings out the best in the writing of our contributors. My writing has benefited enormously from the encouragement and support of more people than I can name. Karen Parks has fed me, argued with me and given me new insights. Peter Isackson has invariably inspired me and made me think harder. Alex Brenner has been a most gracious and cultured host. He has made my observations more refined and precise. Some of my students in Mexico, Kenya and India have asked trenchant questions, which then led me to serendipitous insights. Descartes one said, “I think, therefore I am.” In my case, I learn from others, therefore I write. In the course of the year, some weeks have been brutal. Writing The World This Week is not always a pleasant exercise. Yet it forces me to think long, deep, hard and clear every week. Every week, I have to wrap my head around the blizzard of stories that fly at me at a million miles an hour and explain what is going on. After all, “make sense of the world” is the motto of Fair Observer and, as the founder, I have to live it. 12 In 2016, there has been a lot to make sense of. When you peruse the pages that follow, it might strike you that each of the 52 weeks was significant in its own way. Of course, some weeks were most significant than others.