Double Feature: George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs and Neil Harrison

Jeffrey D. Sachs and Neil Harrison consider US biotechnology's role in creating COVID-19, and George Soros warns of a battle for open-society ideals. [View this message in a web browser]( [PS On Point]( MAY 27, 2022 This week in PS On Point, we bring you two new offerings. George Soros frames the war in Ukraine as the latest battle for open-society ideals – one that implicates China as well. [Read more](. And Jeffrey D. Sachs and Neil Harrison call for an investigation into research practices that could have led to the coronavirus's emergence in China. [Read more](. On Point [The Fight of Our Lives]( [The Fight of Our Lives]( By George Soros Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have much in common: They rule by intimidation, which leads them to make mind-boggling mistakes – Putin in Ukraine, and Xi with an unsustainable zero-COVID policy. But the deep flaws of their closed societies do not imply that open societies are destined to prevail. [Read more]( On Point [Did US Biotechnology Help to Create COVID-19?]( [Did US Biotechnology Help to Create COVID-19?]( By Jeffrey D. Sachs and Neil Harrison While blaming China exclusively for COVID-19's apparent emergence in Wuhan, US authorities have suppressed inquiries into the role that US scientific research institutions may have played in creating the conditions for the pandemic. Yet if the coronavirus did indeed come from a lab, US culpability is almost certain. [Read more]( [Sign up for our free Read More for contributor book recommendations at more.]( The Big Picture [Is Taiwan Next?]( [Is Taiwan Next?]( with Abe Shinzō, Brahma Chellaney, Bonnie Glaser, and more Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has stoked fears that Chinese President Xi Jinping is plotting his own aggression against Taiwan. The United States and its NATO allies seem to be “all in” on repelling Russia’s invasion, but how far will the US be willing to go to defend Taiwan, and has its longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” on that question really run its course? [Read more]( Say More [Shlomo Ben-Ami on the Ukraine war, Israeli-Arab relations, Palestinian resistance, and more]( [Shlomo Ben-Ami on the Ukraine war, Israeli-Arab relations, Palestinian resistance, and more]( [Shlomo Ben-Ami]( highlights the lessons countries like China and Iran are drawing from Vladimir Putin’s aggression, offers advice to Ukrainian peace negotiators, considers the wisdom of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership, and more. Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister, is Vice President of the Toledo International Center for Peace, and the author of Prophets without Honor: The 2000 Camp David Summit and the End of the Two-State Solution. [Read more]( Previously in On Point [The Lose-Lose Tech War]( [The Lose-Lose Tech War]( By Kishore Mahbubani and Tony Chan The increasingly bitter rivalry between the United States and China ultimately will leave both countries – and the world – worse off. While competition is unavoidable and even beneficial in some areas, comprehensive efforts to derail each other’s progress stand little chance of success, and will likely backfire. [Read more]( [Subscribe to PS today for the latest on politics and more.]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.