GÜVEN SAK

Helping the WHO to focus is what the G20 is about GÜVEN SAK

Helping the WHO to focus is what the G20 is about

President Donald Trump attacked the World Health Organization (WHO) this week, announcing a 60-day freeze of U.S. funding going into the organization. He said the WHO has “failed in its basic duty.” The president is an unashamed populist, and it’s almost inappropriate to take his words as a reflection of his thoughts. What is important here is how international organizations are going to come out of this, and two of the most important I’m thinking of here are the World Health Organization (WHO) and the G20, both of which are vital in this crisis.

April 17 2020
A different kind of recession GÜVEN SAK

A different kind of recession

COVID-19 is now stopping economic activity all over the planet. It is not the infectious disease itself that causes this effect, but the social distancing measures we have taken to buy us time. This is “the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression,” said Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian economist who is now the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We are used to have sudden stops in economic activity before in our part of the world, but this one is totally different.

April 10 2020
Do you believe in COVID-19’s transformative power GÜVEN SAK

Do you believe in COVID-19’s transformative power?

It seems like a deep thing to say: Nothing is ever going to be the same again. The times they are-a changin’. I don’t like it. Are we talking good change or bad change? And aren’t things changing all the time anyways? Sometimes we notice, sometimes we don’t, and it seldom has to do with the suffering people go through.

April 03 2020
The price of a leaderless world GÜVEN SAK

The price of a leaderless world

In times of great crisis, there are always those trying to leverage suffering for personal gain. It is the job of government to try to prevent that from happening as much as possible. In the 1918 flu epidemic, the United States put an 80 percent tax on all profits above 8 percent to prevent war profiteering.

March 29 2020
Lessons from Turkey’s refugee crisis for dealing with COVID-19 GÜVEN SAK

Lessons from Turkey’s refugee crisis for dealing with COVID-19

Any economy, be it rice farming or high finance, relies on people working together. The COVID-19 pandemic has put an abrupt stop to this. Countries around the world are now rolling out economic measures to protect jobs and economic activity until we find a way to start back up again.

March 20 2020
Just how bad is COVID-19 for Turkeys economy GÜVEN SAK

Just how bad is COVID-19 for Turkey's economy?

Last week, the only thing Turks were talking about was Idlib. The coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, was an exotic news story from distant lands. Since the outbreak has been classified as a pandemic and taken over the global news cycle, our object of existential anxiety has shifted overnight. Turkey has proven itself ready so far, with only two documented cases of the virus and no deaths. Still, the virus has entered the country, and its spread is inevitable.

March 13 2020
Unpleasant refugee arithmetic with the EU GÜVEN SAK

Unpleasant refugee arithmetic with the EU

The issue of forced migration and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is perhaps the most defining problem of our age, and the civil war in Syria is its most typical case. It is very difficult to deal with because it is a regional problem that can only be addressed through global cooperation. Yet our European partners so often seem to be forgetting this simple truth, and try to wish away the refugee crisis at their door.

March 07 2020
Why Brexit is an opportunity for Turkey GÜVEN SAK

Why Brexit is an opportunity for Turkey

Brexit, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson likes to say, is done. The British have about a year to negotiate the deal that will determine their future relationship with the EU. The form Brexit takes will have significant repercussions for third parties, Turkey being only one of the many. I believe Brexit to be rather fortunate for Turkey. Let me explain what I mean by that.

February 14 2020
Europe’s geopolitical power and Turkey GÜVEN SAK

Europe’s geopolitical power and Turkey

Someone asked an awkward question the other day: “What does a geopolitical commission mean for Turkey?” He was talking about the new EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plan to boost Europe’s geopolitical weight. Her priorities briefing says that “such a Commission will have a political agenda in which reinforcing the EU’s role as a relevant international actor, and trying to shape a better global order through reinforcing multilateralism, is to become a key priority [‘A stronger Europe in the world’].” I think this would be good for Turkey, but awkward.

February 07 2020