Brickbat: A Friend on the Inside

Since the Iran war led to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, about 20 percent of global oil supply has been choked off, sending prices sky high, especially for jet fuel. So far, the war may already be costing the airline industry an additional $15 billion. Airlines have responded by raising ticket prices, charging more for bag fees, and cutting flights that they’ve deemed unprofitable because of higher fuel costs.  This price shock was a deciding factor in the May 2026 closure of Spirit Airlin

President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attend the Peace Council meeting held during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026. | Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images As the world waits to see if President Donald Trump will give his final approval to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and, perhaps, finally bring the 2026 US-Iran conflict to a close, it’s already clear that one of the more surprising developments of the conflict has been t

The Americans were closing in, the situation was getting more dangerous by the minute — and President Xi Jinping was waiting for my recommendation. The standoff began in May, when the US announced a package of anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles to Taiwan that would significantly upgrade the island’s ability to repel a Chinese invasion. We ordered massive military exercises in the region as a show of force. The US soon responded by sending the USS Abraham Lincoln to lead its own exercises with

Washington and Silicon Valley are bracing for the fallout from AI’s potential displacement of workers, floating everything from transition assistance to universal basic income as Americans express growing discontent with the technology. AI leaders have long warned the technology could disrupt the labor market, with predictions varying from a so-called jobs apocalypse to more mild...