By Amy Goodman & Nermeen Shaikh (*) – Democracy Now! The United States announced at a NATO summit in Madrid plans to build a permanent military base in Poland, as it formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance after they applied for membership in response to the...

C.J. Polychroniou* – Truthout An NPR/Ipsos poll released in January revealed that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that U.S. democracy is “in crisis and at risk of failing.” What the poll does not disclose, of course, is the anomalous situation of the United States in comparison to other democracies....

By Claudia E. Muñoz-Castellano* – Truthout One hundred human beings were inside an 18-wheeler without water or air conditioning in the blistering 100-degree Texas heat. Fifty of them are now dead. Sixteen more people were taken to a hospital — including four children. That was this Monday in San Antonio....

By Nina L. Khrushcheva* – Project Syndicate Refusing to engage with Russian culture will not change President Vladimir Putin’s calculations, let alone impel him to withdraw his forces from Ukraine. It will merely cut off a potential source of information about his objectives and motivations, while seemingly lending credence to...

By Karl Mathiesen and David M. Herszenhorn (*) – POLITICO Leaders struggle to meet the moment on Ukraine, climate change, inflation, food and energy ZUGSPITZE, Germany — If they needed reminding about the urgency of climate change and their role in stopping it, all G7 leaders had to do was...