On its current cover, the London-based magazine The Economist celebrates its 175th birthday. The issue includes a long essay on the merits of liberalism, the worldview which The Economist wholeheartedly endorses. Unfortunately, the essay shies away from dealing with the crucial inherent contradiction of liberalism: does it emphasize free markets or equal opportunity? What is more important: the private interests of the “bourgeois” or the public good demanded by the “citoyen”?

Earlier this week, China’s President Xi Jinping pledged $60 billion in support of African development in the next three years. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing has thus rekindled the debate on the merits of aid efforts made by the People’s Republic. I’d like to weigh in with a few thoughts.

The international trade in illegal drugs is a multi-billion industry. Attempts to eradicate it have been going on for decades. The results are absolutely unconvincing. Masses of people have died, but illegal substances are still available in all of the world’s major cities. The war on drugs has not gone well. The global security impacts are serious. Thiago Rodrigues, a Brazilian scholar, assesses important dimensions of the policy challenge in the current edition of International Reports.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country does not face any real economic problem. That statement is wrong. He also says that it is suffering because of a foreign “operation”. That is not totally wrong, though it radically downplays his own responsibility. Finally, Erdogan claims to have alternatives to cooperating with the West in foreign affairs. This is reckless. I’ll do my best to explain these points.