AMERICA UNBOUND?

“WHO YOU GONNA CALL?” Certainly not Ghostbuster s, even “if you’re seeing things running through your head.” Nor would Elvis Presley’s romantic lyric “Tell me dear, Are You Lonesome Tonight,” would help you to get out of a funk, a shade of gray mood characterized by feelings of emptiness, lack of motivation, grouchiness, some kind of diffused malaise. Most of us know how our bodies twist and turn,...

Maps have always played a pivotal role in shaping geopolitical realities. They serve as powerful tools of communication, shaping public perception and, at times, laying the groundwork for territorial aggressions. China understands this power well and has been actively using maps to assert its territorial claims.  China's unfounded territorial claims, backed by fake cartographic forays, from  t...

Very soon, in a week or so, thousands and thousands of young people would be flocking to campuses across the country hoping to build a bright future for themselves, which would also shape the nation in this age of Generative Artificial Intelligence and MAGA tribalism. Parents would hope and pray that their children would stay safe and healthy on the campuses; and when they graduate, the world be t...

I would have to reprogram my mind and clear my conscience and try my best to become an impartial juror because the Sixth Amendment commands that the accused, Donald J. Trump, “shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” Jury duty is one of the most sacred obligations of being a citizen. Can I really become an impartial juror in spite of the fact that since the Novemb...

Power and influence in American society are exercised by groups of people, whether Democrats or Republicans, who control the wealth of the nation. Any which way they can, they influence the national agenda. “Americans may be equal, but some are more equal than others,” economist  Paul Krugman wrote a while ago. The most obvious influential actor is the political establishment—career politicians, t...

Freedom, innovation, and democracy go together University campuses have always been a place for resistance against oppression and a battleground for our freedom of expression since the early days of the Republic. Today both public and private universities are struggling with how to preserve and encourage freedom of thought and expression in the face of state political interference and cancel cultu...

While AI presents challenges and risks, its potential to enhance our humanity should not be overlooked. By augmenting human capabilities, transforming work and economy, addressing ethical concerns, and fostering human-machine collaboration, AI can be a powerful tool for progress and advancement. To ensure that AI enhances our humanity, it is essential to approach its development and implementation...

Guns and sex—what can be done? If politicians don’t know what to do about guns, and they can’t fight against the “girlie men” and  “bush-whooping women” of Hollywood, how would they control social media and AI, where no one has much control? Whether it was Dr. Alfred Kinsey or Playboy that liberated Americans, nonetheless, sexual imagery, heterosexual, homosexual, omnisexual, and non-binary, has b...

Early January this year, when India’s top industrialist, Gautam Adani completed the purchase of Haifa Port in Israel, he was Asia’s richest and most admirable businessman. But then a sudden shark attack by a US based shot seller Hindenburg research group left Adani bleeding. How can the Adani Group rebuild its reputation?

Last month, a tiny island nation in the Pacific Ocean took a giant step for mankind.   Vanuatu, an archipelago of islands, like many other countries in the Indo-Pacific such as Fiji, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Madagascar, is vulnerable to the ravages of extreme climate changes. The rising sea levels triggered by global environmental pollution and rising temperatures might make some islands vanish al...

The term cyberspace was coined by William Gibson in his 1984 science fiction Neuromancer—a dark social universe. But America created cyberspace, the Internet,  based on its democratic value system—free, open, decentralized, distributed, and self-governing.  What if the Internet had been created in China or Russia?  Its architecture and algorithms would have been very different, geared more toward...

Spreading democracy is a worthy goal but the United States faces complex challenges in an interdependent world, challenges that are compelling policymakers, Democrats and Republicans, to act as pragmatist idealists. Instead of crouching toward China or Russia as a model, developing nations should look to the United States. This is the biggest challenge for US international diplomacy today. Rebuild...

While China builds up its diplomatic presence in the Middle East and is perhaps looking forward to brokering a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia, in the South China Sea it has been gradually building strategic advantages that threaten the vital interests of the United States and its allies.

Hovering all around, over death and destruction, are the vultures of war—arms manufacturers, energy companies, politicians and oligarchs, black market traders, and human traffickers.

There’s no gainsaying the fact that although war has brutalized a vast swath of the Ukrainian population, the West’s geopolitical gains have been tremendous. With the admission of Finland and Sweden as full-fledged members, NATO would be enlarged, and Europe would be more united than ever since the end of the Cold War. The question is whether the truncated and moth-eaten Ukraine would be allowed t...

“Beam me up, Scotty,” is science fiction but beaming up work to Scotty who lives in a remote place is a reality and may become a necessity. Smart people—digitally smart people who can work from anywhere—and brain inflow through immigration would keep the United States perpetually rejuvenated.

Beyond academia, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is opening a wonderful world of immense possibilities. Such possibilities include, for example, helping save the Amazon by forecasting deforestation; automation and job creation through reskilling; mitigating and managing climate change by measuring emissions; boosting the discovery of new drugs; fighting terrorism and transforming national security; a...

Work brings us together, promotes community relations and safety, and encourages civic participation. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are key to achieving sustainable growth and prosperity.

American political power is a shared and decentralized phenomenon. Corporate America controls some levers of power and influence.

 It's true that nobody has a monopoly on truth; therefore, the First Amendment, in essence, says: Speak up fearlessly so that truth might emerge. In the marketplace of ideas, when robust and uninhibited discussion about public issues leads to outright lies, inaccurate information, or misinformation, the remedy is not censorship or suppression of the information however outrageous it may be. B...

America is vigorously responding to both internal and external challenges.