Commentary | The Monitor's View

Amid global trade shocks, 54 nations boost commercial ties among themselves to achieve self-reliance and to lessen trade dependence on non-African countries.

This year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences – like many in the past – spotlights theories about causes for growth. One key: an openness to new and often challenging ideas.

President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan still has lots of details to be worked out. But its widespread support signals evolving priorities in the region – and ongoing hope.

This year’s winner, Venezuela’s María Corina Machado, relies on inner resources that are similar to past winners from Myanmar and Iran.

Some of the jubilation in Gaza may lie in the possibility for self-governance and rebuilding even if Hamas drops out of the peace process.

A new U.S. approach uses the military to strike small boats presumed to be carrying drugs. Yet one country is busting up cocaine rings by relying on legal enforcement and the integrity of its investigators and prosecutors.

The rise of heated and hateful rhetoric deepens partisan divides. Some lawmakers are pursuing genuine, everyday interactions to find political consensus.

The president tries incentives over bullying as a way to change universities, even offering a dialogue about his proposed reforms, perhaps in an academic spirit of civility and reason.

Young adults want answers to pressing political and economic issues. Their openness to dialogue and evolving values and viewpoints can help reframe questions in a collective search for solutions.

Camping out with chimps in their habitat allowed the conservationist to show humans their responsibilities for nature and to see a “spiritual power” beyond scientific knowledge.