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Timur Kuran

Timur Kuran

6 commentaries

Timur Kuran is Professor of Economics and Political Science at Duke University and the author of The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East.

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  1. The Economic Costs of Erdoğan
    turkey erdogan speaking at rally Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

    The Economic Costs of Erdoğan

    Aug 24, 2018 Timur Kuran & Dani Rodrik lay the blame for Turkey's crisis squarely at the feet of its autocratic president.

  2. Turkey’s Changing Freedom Deficit
    kuran5_Anadolu Agency_Getty Images_erdogan Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

    Turkey’s Changing Freedom Deficit

    Sep 15, 2016 Timur Kuran laments that, since the failed coup in July, citizens must increasingly obscure their true beliefs.

  3. The Roots of Middle East Mistrust
    Middle East Finance Bloomberg/ Getty Images

    The Roots of Middle East Mistrust

    Jul 8, 2016 Timur Kuran explains how Islamic law has weakened trust among Muslims.

  4. Turkey’s Electoral Dictatorship

    Turkey’s Electoral Dictatorship

    Apr 10, 2014 Timur Kuran warns that recent local elections will reinforce Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's authoritarian turn.

  5. Political Islam’s Loss of Democratic Legitimacy
    pa3263c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Political Islam’s Loss of Democratic Legitimacy

    Aug 2, 2013 Timur Kuran

  1. rodrik231_Andrej IvanovGettyImages_us_canda_border Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images

    How Not to Respond to Trump’s Tariffs

    Dani Rodrik advises America’s trade partners not to embrace retaliation, because that would harm mainly themselves.
  2. landau5_Thierry MonasseGettyImages_eu_competitiveness_compass Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

    Europe Found Its Values and Lost Its Way

    Jean-Pierre Landau

    European integration – and the stability and prosperity it supports – has always depended on a pragmatic, incremental approach. If the EU is to navigate today’s challenging geopolitical environment, it must again embrace this approach, rather than continue to allow high-level principles to dictate policy.

    warns that the EU’s focus on high-level principles is undermining its economic dynamism and global influence.
  3. cferguson4_Patrick T. FallonGettyImages_jensen_huang Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

    The Crisis in Western AI Is Real

    Charles Ferguson

    Given the risks involved in the race for AI dominance, maintaining a strong lead within democratic advanced economies justifies a public-private strategic mobilization on the scale of the Manhattan Project. Yet the West is doing the opposite, largely owing to its own AI industry’s arrogance, shortsightedness, and greed.

    thinks the US industry bears a considerable share of the blame for China’s DeepSeek breakthrough.
  4. singer239_Andrew HarnikGetty Images_americafirst Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    “America First” in Action

    Peter Singer assesses the damage Donald Trump has already done to long-term US interests since returning to the White House.
  5. varoufakis124_Luke SharrettGettyImages_palantir_demo Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

    Technofeudalism Is War’s Handmaiden

    Yanis Varoufakis explains how the rise of cloud capital is steering the world toward well-known strategic traps.
  6. buiter54_FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_swissnationalbank Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    The Positive Case for Negative Rates

    Willem H. Buiter & Ebrahim Rahbari see the widely scorned monetary-policy tool as a necessary option in the absence of fiscal alternatives.
  7. ahzhang20_PETER CATTERALLAFP via Getty Images_deepseek Peter Catterall/AFP via Getty Images

    Will DeepSeek Upend US Tech Dominance?

    Angela Huyue Zhang says the firm’s disruption of the AI industry is about market – not great-power – competition.
  8. buruma222_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_donald_trump_cross Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Breaking US Democracy Beyond Repair

    Ian Buruma warns that Donald Trump’s efforts to tear down America’s “civic religion” will be difficult to reverse.
  9. patten172_Scott OlsonGetty Images_trump Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Can the Liberal International Order Survive Without America?

    Chris Patten urges Western countries to safeguard the institutions that have underpinned their postwar stability.

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