Last week ended on an optimistic note for the U.S. stock market, prompting renewed optimism that the U.S. economy will lead the world out of the global recession. Is optimism warranted? According to this report in The New York Times, investors indeed may be on the verge of dispelling the cloud of gloom and doom […]
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, interviewed by Charlie Rose, says Capitalism will be ‘profoundly different‘ going forward. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s comments should come as no surprise. Neither should the fact that a leading global economist recently noted, rather matter-of-fact-ly, that “the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism has failed.” But more on that point later. For […]
Recent headlines underline China’s burgeoning military power. Last week, both China and the United States sought to reduce tensions over a sea dispute and increase future talks to limit military confrontation. This month, Beijing announced that the country’s defense budget will rise by 15 percent in 2009. Is China the next military superpower? Every year, […]
“Country Of Origin Labeling” (COOL) goes into effect today, expanding a labeling program from the 2002 Farm Bill, in response to concerns about contaminated food being imported into the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, consumer groups and some farmers pushed for the adoption of the new rules, which for now are voluntary: “I […]
Last week, we discussed soft power in Asia. The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently published a report on China’s soft power and the implications for the United States. The authors highlight China’s projection of soft power – through investment, humanitarian aid, exchange programs, diplomacy and participation in multilateral institutions – in Africa, the […]
Banks, financial institutions and government regulators have failed us miserably. To add injury to insult, AIG which received $170 billion of your taxpaying dollars is handing out $165 million dollar bonusesto the very people responsible for this disaster. But that’s another story. Global Witness has released a scathing report disclosing how Barkley’s, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC […]
Among the speakers at this year’s Oxford University’s Radical Forum was Deborah Cameron, a professor of linguistics at Worcester College whose research interests include language, gender, the media and the interactions between them. She is also the author of The Myth of Mars and Venus: Do men and women really speak different languages? which succeeds […]
With this post, I launch a discussion of two issues in American foreign policy relevant to the Rising Powers blog. The first issue deals with two extremes that have driven foreign policy formulation since the early 20th century – Wilsonian idealism and assertive interventionism. In today’s post, I open this topic by suggesting an approach […]
The Future of Capitalism
The credit crunch has destroyed faith in the free market ideology that has dominated Western economic thinking for a generation. But what can – and should – replace it? Over the coming weeks we will conduct a wide-ranging debate on this dominant political issue of the day.
One doesn’t have to think hard about how difficult life can be when you do not have access to appropriate healthcare services and facilities. The developing world and countries at war are continually burdened and the ones who pay the heavy price for this strain are most often women and children. In many societies an […]
Two “under-the-radar” stories for rising powers took place this weekend. 1.) (this one is more prominent) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the White House on Saturday. The visit was amicable and jovial at times and is a good omen for positive US-Brazil relations. 2.) (not in the headlines) China and Iran signed […]
The Center for New American Security released a report on the importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the United States. Despite Asia-Pacific’s growing political and economic weight, China’s rise, the fear of nuclear proliferation and the need for multilateral cooperation to solve the world’s ills, the US has “often been focused elsewhere” over the past […]
In moves characterizing the country’s resurgence, Russia continues to regain and assert influence over its neighbors and in America’s backyard. First in Russia’s “near abroad,” both Central Asia and the Caucasus are considered by Moscow to be within its sphere of influence. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev decided to close the United States air base in […]
You can’t praise Betsy Kolbert enough, in my opinion. She has been the must lucid, grounded, smart and committed journalist writing about climate change for several years. In The War on Rachel Carson here from a couple of years ago, I wrote “Nota Bene – I put Betsy Kolbert in a class with Rachel Carson. […]