Phillip Smith

Phillip Smith is the editor of the American Hemp Monitor. He has reported on the hemp industry and regulatory affairs for more than 20 years. He lives across the road from a hemp farm in southern Oregon.

October 21, 2026

Columns/Human Rights

Progress achieved, promise unfulfilled

Countries across Asia and the Pacific have made remarkable strides over the past three decades in tackling poverty through a combination of economic growth, government-led programmes and community-based initiatives. At the same

Columns/Geopolitics

The French Protests Are Being Misunderstood

The French protests that are spreading over Europe are not receiving proper attention. The explanation that students all over France, with the disturbances spreading into Italy and Belgium, are burning down historic buildings and looting businesses because they are dissatisfied

October 20, 2026

Sri Lanka’s illicit cigarette trade costs government Rs 29.5bn in lost tax revenue

Sri Lanka lost an estimated Rs 29.5 billion in potential tax revenue in 2025 because of illicit factory-made cigarette consumption, according to an economic

Sri Lanka: Rising Prices and People’s Patience

A familiar storm gathers Sri Lanka’s inflation reached 8% in September 2026, above the Central Bank’s 3–7% target band for a third straight month,

Advocates Offer Regulatory Alternative to Hemp Product Ban

November 23, 2025

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is widely viewed as the father of the American hemp industry, given his role as then-Senate majority leader in pushing across the finish line the 2018 farm bill

Progress achieved, promise unfulfilled

Countries across Asia and the Pacific have made remarkable strides

The French Protests Are Being Misunderstood

The French protests that are spreading over Europe are not

Europe’s Refugee Crisis: Merkel’s Humanitarian Gamble

The then German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the floodgates to

India: LoC Infiltration Attempts Persist

Indian security forces have foiled at least ten infiltration attempts

Baloch Insurgency Intensifies as BRG Escalates Attacks

The Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) have sharply escalated their operations

Is Gen Z a Cover For Anarchists?

The article questions whether protests conducted under the banner of

Kabul’s Denials, Pakistan’s Demands

Repeated negotiations have failed to bridge the divide between Pakistan’s

India’s Global Power, Its Accountability Problem

India’s growing global influence faces a difficult test as international

Is Bangladesh Shaping the Region—or Being Shaped?

As South Asian diplomacy evolves, Bangladesh faces a fundamental question:

Puerto Rican Communities Bear the Brunt of the Water Crisis

As a child, visits to my grandmother’s home in the

What China’s Global Initiatives Offer the World

The fires of war burn from Palestine to Ukraine and

Belling The Bellingcat

Bellingcat’s investigation of two US charities, Sewa International USA and

Pakistan’s Power Struggle Turns Violent as Terrorism Surges

Pakistan’s imposition of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has triggered

How Non-State Alliances Are Reshaping the Global Order

Yemen’s civil war reignited in early October, as Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan’s Resistance Is Spreading

Five years after the Taliban’s return to power, emerging resistance