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Barak Barfi

Barak Barfi

28 commentaries

Barak Barfi is a former research fellow at New America and a former visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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  1. Syria’s House of Cards
    barfi28_AnadoluGettyImages_hafez_alassad_statue_downed Anadolu/Getty Images

    Syria’s House of Cards

    Dec 9, 2024 Barak Barfi explains why Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed so quickly, placing most of the blame on Assad himself.

  2. Trumpian Turmoil Is Coming to the Middle East
    barfi27_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_trumpnetanyahu Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

    Trumpian Turmoil Is Coming to the Middle East

    Nov 13, 2024 Barak Barfi thinks that the regional leaders who are cheering now may soon be pining for a less capricious leader.

  3. What Will Follow Hamas’s War?
    barfi26_MOHAMMED DAHMANMiddle East ImagesAFP via Getty Images_gazahamasisrael Mohammed Dahman/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    What Will Follow Hamas’s War?

    Oct 9, 2023 Barak Barfi foresees an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza and prolonged occupation of the enclave.

  4. The Hollow Saudi-Iranian Agreement
    barfi25_ ATTA KENAREAFP via Getty Images_china saudi iran ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

    The Hollow Saudi-Iranian Agreement

    Mar 14, 2023 Barak Barfi sees a newly announced Chinese-brokered deal as more glitter than gold.

  5. Biden’s Return to Realism in Saudi Arabia
    barfi24AMER HILABIAFP via Getty Images_saudi us AMER HILABI/AFP via Getty Images

    Biden’s Return to Realism in Saudi Arabia

    Jul 15, 2022 Barak Barfi explains why embracing the status quo in the Middle East, while far from ideal, is the right call for the US.

  1. velasco156_Alex WroblewskiGettyImages_dnc_harris_buttons Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images
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    How Liberals Lost America

    Andrés Velasco attributes Donald Trump’s return to power to Democrats’ embrace of both moral neutrality and moral preachiness.
  2. halland10_TERJE PEDERSENNTBAFP via Getty Images_norwayukraineaid Terje Pedersenntb/AFP via Getty Images
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    Norway Should Cede Its War Windfall to Ukraine

    Håvard Halland & Knut Anton Mork say that the government's justifications for its war profiteering are disingenuous and short-sighted.
  3. bhide11_Anthony KwanGettyImages_deepseek Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
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    Is DeepSeek Really a Threat?

    Amar Bhidé

    If vindicated, DeepSeek’s technology could be to large language models what Nikola Tesla’s breakthroughs with alternating current were to electrification. While it cannot overcome the unavoidable limitations of backward-looking statistical models, it could make their price performance good enough for wider use.

     explains what a purported Chinese AI breakthrough does and does not mean for the industry.
  4. spence180_Picture AllianceGettyImages_germany_annual_economic_report Picture Alliance/Getty Images
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    What’s Wrong With Germany’s Economy?

    Michael Spence

    Germany became a European powerhouse partly because, in the early 2000s, its industrial sectors took over the highest-valued-added segments of global supply chains. Replicating this success today would require Germany to move to the forefront of the digital transformation, and it cannot do that without the EU.

     thinks the country’s prospects depend significantly on closing the digital-technology gap with the US and China.
  5. hausmann119_Christine OlssonGettyImages_northvolt_bankruptcy Christine Olsson/Getty Images
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    When Companies Fail to Learn, They Learn to Fail

    Ricardo Hausmann explains how the inability to identify and address knowledge gaps can doom even the most promising projects.
  6. berahab1_LUDOVIC MARINAFP via Getty Images_gabonforest Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
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    How to Make Carbon Pricing Work for Africa

    Rim Berahab & Otaviano Canuto argue that policies must be structured to facilitate, not obstruct, the continent’s shift to renewables.
  7. jma6_NurPhotoGettyImages_china_evs_trade NurPhoto/Getty Images
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    Green Free Trade in a Protectionist Age

    Ma Jun envisions regional arrangements that facilitate the exchange of climate-friendly goods and services.
  8. mazarei1_Sayed HassanGetty Images_suezcanal Sayed Hassan/Getty Images
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    Egypt’s Economic Crisis May Not Be Over

    Adnan Mazarei urges the international community to push for long-overdue governance and economic reforms.
  9. iyer2_SIA KAMBOUAFP via Getty Images_malariavaccine Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
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    Climate Displacement Is Also a Health Crisis

    Jayasree K. Iyer proposes a four-pronged strategy to ensure that essential medicines reach vulnerable populations.

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