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Leaders

Read arguments, commentary and analysis on economics, politics and global affairs. Views should be read with their article-specific author or source credit; an opinion is not a statement of settled fact or a claim of consensus.

Leaders

AI consciousness: why chatbot fluency is not evidence of inner experience

Fluent conversation is not evidence that a system feels anything. Researchers have proposed a disciplined way to assess AI consciousness, and current chatbots do not meet the markers.

Sep 23, 20266 min read

Leaders

Britain’s 2026 drought may signal a climate tipping point

Tim Palmer argues southern England's brutal summer of 2026 was caused by a persistent anticyclone — and if climate change is making such patterns more frequent, Britain must…

Sep 11, 20266 min read

Illustration of a balance scale with a large yellow star weighing down the left pan and an empty right pan raised higher.

Leaders

The US-China Legal Trap Closing on Multinationals

Beijing now punishes firms for obeying US sanctions, leaving multinationals banking in New York and manufacturing in Shenzhen trapped between two rival legal orders.

Sep 11, 20264 min read

Barbed wire arranged in the shape of an American flag against a red background.

Leaders

Trump’s Deportation Drive Is Making America Weaker

Donald Trump restored order at the border. But his brutal deportation drive and self-harming visa curbs are shrinking the workforce and threatening America's dynamism.

Sep 11, 20265 min read

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks about the trade dispute with the United States

Leaders

Mark Carney must defuse a trade war Canada cannot win

Canada announced $20bn in dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs due on September 8th after walking away from US talks on August 21st. With an economy 13 times smaller than America's,…

Sep 11, 20264 min read

Two overlapping official seals of the U.S. presidency and Treasury, joined together against a split blue-and-white background.

Leaders

Scott Bessent’s Bond-Market Meddling Will Cost America

Scott Bessent's surprise expansion of long-dated Treasury buy-backs may lower yields before the midterms, but with federal debt above $40trn it risks America's financial credibility.

Sep 11, 20264 min read

Leaders

Operation Blue Skies: How Lower Flights Could Halve Aviation’s Warming

Operation Blue Skies, a NATS-led trial over the North Atlantic, will test if small altitude shifts to avoid persistent contrails can halve aviation's climate impact for less than…

Sep 11, 20264 min read

Illustration of an oil barrel wrapped in chains with dollar signs

Leaders

America’s Iran Sanctions Are a Damp Squib by Design

Washington's "Economic D-Day" targets about 60 Iranian entities but withholds full secondary sanctions. The damp squib looks designed to allow a quiet retreat before November's midterms.

Sep 11, 20264 min read

illustration of two hands hovering over a crystal ball with an American flag inside.

Leaders

Britain would be mad to ditch Palantir from the NHS

Britain's critics of Palantir have taken a worryingly illiberal turn. The firm has flaws, but booting it from the NHS would be a mistake.

Sep 11, 20265 min read

Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian home in Qusra, Nablus

Leaders

Israel’s West Bank Failure: Settlers, Netanyahu and Intifada Risk

Israel's formidable security forces are failing in the West Bank, where violent settlers act with impunity under a government that enables them. As Palestinians face eviction, the risk…

Sep 11, 20264 min read