Deng judged the mood of the nation shrewdly the people were ready to be told that to get rich is glorious.

The suffering that so many people are enduring leads to pressure for reform, and Obama has shrewdly transformed these pressures into a political force.

Thailand s farms became increasingly alienated from the urban elite. Thaksin recognized this urban rural divide and shrewdly exploited it, upending the elite consensus that had long prevailed.

Israelis believe that Iran is galloping into the nuclear club, and will shrewdly use the prospect of talks with the US to pre empt tougher sanctions or a military strike.

Putin gained the upper hand early in the crisis with the annexation of Crimea. Now, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, he is shrewdly forcing a divided and risk averse West to choose between war and accommodation.

The suffering that so many people are enduring leads to pressure for reform, and Obama has shrewdly transformed these pressures into a political force. All this shows that reflection on common ethical values, a global ethic, is needed more urgently now than ever before.