“The formation of the G20 group of world leaders is likely to be the most lasting institutional consequence of the global financial meltdown of 2008,” writes Gideon Rachman, a columnist for the Financial Times, in the Economist’s The World in 2010. Rachman outlines the G’s jostling for preeminence – from the G2 to the G77 […]
Featuring analysis and commentary by Eswar Prasad of the Brookings Institution and Derek Scissors of the Heritage Foundation, CNN provides a video introduction to the BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – countries. Kitty Pilgrim outlines the impact of the countries representing 40 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the landmass, […]
Patricia Kushlis has a post in WhirledView on President Obama’s commitment to increase the number of U.S. students going to China from the current number of 20,000 to 100,000. Her excellent post is here. As she notes, this represents an enormous increase – in the number of US students in China and in the overall number of U.S. […]
Maybe we should use some of those 34,000 troops to safeguard the border? Dealing with the insurgency is hard enough—but letting fighters escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan, or Pakistan to Afghanistan, and then back again, is an insanely stupid thing. You would think this would be the number one reason to put in more troops. […]
Elections are events that always garner attention. Whether its to see how a particular politician will fare, what direction a country may be headed with its policies, or as a barometer of corruption, elections are covered by the world media regardless of where they occur. Unfortunately, there are places where election coverage can only achieve […]
Where to start with this wonderful news? A Swiss referendum banning the construction of minarets in the country passed this weekend, with 57 percent of the vote and 22 of 26 cantons in favor. Europe has been beset by immigration ‘problems’ in recent years, and rising Muslim populations in many countries have caused a backlash […]
The banks thst lent about $40 billion to the state-owned corporation Dubai World must have figured, “Okay Dubai doesn’t have oil, but it’s part of a larger oil country (United Arab Emirates), and it’s in an oil region, and so they’re good for the money.” Apparently, no one thought that an enterprise based on ridiculously over-priced real […]
“EACH DAY HUMBLE SUPPLIES ENOUGH ENERGY TO MELT 7 MILLION TONS OF GLACIER!” Slightly off topic, though worthwhile nonetheless, is this 1960s advertisement for Humble Oil, the predecessor of Exxon U.S.A. Best viewed in its largest size, as the text is just as raunchy as the accompanying slogan. A retrospective that is so right and so […]
Focusing mostly on the one-year anniversary of the Mumbai attacks (Nov. 26-29): 1) Interview with Fareed Zakaria in the Hindustan Times. 2) This headline in the Wall Street Journal says it all, doesn’t it? 3) The last thing South Asia needs is a war of words between India and China. India defense minister A.K. Antony: […]
Eritrea’s ambassador to the European Union, Girma Asmerom, was conspicuously absent. The Europe External Policy Advisors’ moderator had assured everyone that the invite was sent. In an interview published in the September/October issue of the Courier ACP, the ambassador claimed his country to be the most stable in the whole of Africa. But his seat […]
A recent report by the Department of Agriculture has shed light on some shocking numbers about the food security of Americans. Last year, the Department reports, the number of Americans that did not have consistent access to food jumped from 36 million to 49 million, the highest increase since 1995. As reported in The […]
In his 2008 book, Commonwealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, Jeffery Sachs wrote: “In the end, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted by the rest of the world, with the United States refusing to ratify it. President Clinton never sent it to the Senate for ratification (fearing immediate defeat), and President George W. Bush rejected it […]
You’ve filled your plates and stuffed you faces with the barrage of Turkey Day delights and now belly full your mind begins to drift to Christmas Shopping and the Black Friday deals. So sure prepare yourself for a deal, but why not shop in the true holiday spirit and give back as you give to […]
Over the next 20 years, Pakistan’s population will grow by 85 million people. This raises a multitude of questions regarding the future of Pakistan as not just a stable country—it is clearly not that already—but as a country at all. Pakistan is already overpopulated, with 180 million people—two thirds of which are under 30. The […]