We are possessed of a protean president who has now turned his back on the world: as he explained last Thursday, he has plumped for Pittsburgh not Paris. We are now exiles from the climate accord and having thus abandoned a planetary consensus we find ourselves on the very frontier of the civilized world. This is a place in which many Americans feel comfortable: it was where generations of the most enterprising of this nation lived for nearly three centuries (1607-1890). Indeed, it is a place that has a highly valued role in our economic and cultural heritage - in a profound historical sense, our president has led us back home. More

Qatar is unexpectedly under siege from its neighbours. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, supported by Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen, the five Arab states have cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, severed land, air and sea travel and are expelling Qatari citizens who have 48 hours to depart. More

It’s “infrastructure week” in the U.S., with the Trump administration rolling out a flurry of events to show they’re on target to advance a campaign promise (while distracting attention from “bad news” like James Comey, etc.). Trump has proposed spending $200 billion over the next ten years on infrastructure, while attracting at least $1 trillion in private sector investment money. The plan is led by Trump’s chief economic adviser Gary Cohn (a former Goldman Sachs executive), who is Director of the powerful National Economic Council – with members Mike Pence, Rex Tillerson, Steven Munchin, Rick Perry, Wilbur Ross, Sonny Perdue, Ben Carson, Elaine Chao and Tom Price. More