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Harold James

Harold James

Writing for PS since 2001
230 commentaries
2 videos & podcasts

Harold James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. A specialist on German economic history and on globalization, he is a co-author of The Euro and The Battle of Ideas, and the author of The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle, Krupp: A History of the Legendary German Firm, Making the European Monetary Union, The War of Words, and, most recently, Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises That Shaped Globalization (Yale University Press, 2023).

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  1. Alternatives to Trump’s Russia Appeasement
    james227_Central PressGettyImages_neville_chamberlain_munich_pact Central Press/Getty Images

    Alternatives to Trump’s Russia Appeasement

    Feb 14, 2025 Harold James explains how France and Britain can guarantee Ukraine’s security now that America has effectively surrendered.

  2. How Trump’s Anti-Globalism Could Backfire
    james_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_trump Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    How Trump’s Anti-Globalism Could Backfire

    Jan 27, 2025 Harold James thinks the new administration's approach could jeopardize the foreign capital flows that America depends on.

  3. Shock Therapy for Multilateralism
    james225_AnadoluGettyImages_un_security_countil_meeting Anadolu/Getty Images

    Shock Therapy for Multilateralism

    Jan 2, 2025 Harold James considers what another Donald Trump presidency will, and will not, mean for global cooperation.

  4. Is America the Next Soviet Union?
    james224_Francis LochonGettyImages_ussr_dolls Francis Lochon/Getty Images

    Is America the Next Soviet Union?

    Nov 28, 2024 Harold James sees parallels between the United States’ political dysfunction and that of its twentieth-century adversary.

  5. Fascism in Our Time
    james223_Win McNameeGetty Images_fascism Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Fascism in Our Time

    Oct 28, 2024 Harold James emphasizes the similarity of US business leaders’ behavior to that of their counterparts in 1930s Germany.

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  1. frieda19_AnadoluGettyImages_russia_us_peace_talks Anadolu/Getty Images
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    The Economic Consequences of Trump’s Ukrainian Peace

    Gene Frieda

    Rather than engage in lengthy discussions to pry concessions from Russia, US President Donald Trump seems committed to giving the Kremlin whatever it wants to end the Ukraine war. But rewarding the aggressor and punishing the victim would amount to setting the stage for the next war.

     warns that by punishing the victim, the US is setting up Europe for another war.
  2. oneill128in McNameeGetty Images_trump Win McNamee/Getty Images
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    There Goes America

    Within his first month back in the White House, Donald Trump has upended US foreign policy and launched an all-out assault on the country’s constitutional order. With US institutions bowing or buckling as the administration takes executive power to unprecedented extremes, the establishment of an authoritarian regime cannot be ruled out.

  3. op_janeway18_DrAfter123Getty Images_AI DrAfter123/Getty Images
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    In AI We Trust?

    William H. Janeway

    The rapid advance of AI might create the illusion that we have created a form of algorithmic intelligence capable of understanding us as deeply as we understand one another. But these systems will always lack the essential qualities of human intelligence.

     explains why even cutting-edge innovations are not immune to the world’s inherent unpredictability.
  4. strain36_Michael M. SantiagoGettyImages_ny_stock_exchange Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
    1

    How Trump Can Achieve Sustained Growth

    Michael R. Strain foresees the US president building on a strong economy, so long as he steers clear of populist policies.
  5. schwarzer9_Telmo PintoSOPA ImagesLightRocket via Getty Images_macronstarmer Telmo Pinto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
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    Europe Alone

    Daniela Schwarzer

    US Vice President J.D. Vance's speech at this year's Munich Security Conference made it clear that the long postwar era of Atlanticism is over, and that Europeans now must take their sovereignty into their own hands. With ample resources to do so, all that is required is the collective political will.

     explains what the European Union must do now that America has walked away from the transatlantic relationship.
  6. woods61_Alex WongGettyImages_imf_walking Alex Wong/Getty Images
    1

    What If the US Leaves the IMF and the World Bank?

    Ngaire Woods thinks the Trump administration’s approach jeopardizes America’s geopolitical and economic interests.
  7. acemoglu84_Ludovic MarinGettyImages_ai_action_summit
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    Will We Squander the AI Opportunity?

    Daron Acemoglu worries that the technology is on track to disempower, rather than complement, most of humanity.
  8. oladosu1_Sakorn SukkasemsakornGetty Images_moneyeducation Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn/Getty Images
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    Education Belongs on the Climate Agenda

    Adenike Oladosu explains why investing in schools in conflict- and crisis-affected countries would build resilience.
  9. schell24_ApicGettyImages_mao_zedong Apic/Getty Images
    3

    Trump’s Cultural Revolution

    Orville Schell sees obvious and troubling parallels between the US president and Mao Zedong.

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