In the 1980s, Japanese carmakers began to move production to the United States. Today, they — along with German and South Korean makers — account for more than 40% of the autos made in the United States. The move begs a question, taken up by a recent New York Times article: Could consumer electronics makers […]
There is much debate in the United States on the dominance of China in the current global economy. These discussions are quite valid as Latin America weathered much of the 2008 economic crisis based upon natural resource exports to China to bolster their booming economy. Canada was also able to rely on natural resources […]
Back in 2005, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) tabled a huge $18.5 billion offer for the American oil company Unocal. Despite the logic of strategically buying up Unocal for its Central Asian prospects, improving its Shale gas infrastructure and the tempting ‘all-cash’ nature of the buyout, the deal ultimately floundered on the banks […]
The energy boom upends arguments about the inevitability of U.S. strategic decline A previous post peered into the crystal ball to argue that America’s strategic prospects are dramatically brightening due to an unexpectedly improving energy outlook and the looming revitalization of its manufacturing base. This thesis cuts against the reigning anxiety about the nation’s economic course […]
by Nathan William Meyer Twenty-four trillion dollars. It is a number that beggars the imagination, almost 40% of the global economy, and it is buried in one of the world’s poorest and most violent countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo. Failed state, rape capital of the world, humanitarian catastrophe – the Congo personifies all […]
Interview conducted by FPB’s Reza Akhlaghi Ian Bremmer, one of America’s leading geopolitical theorists and the President of Eurasia Group, sat down with Reza Akhlaghi, senior writer at FPA, to discuss the crisis of global leadership and his new book Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World “…..a loose collection of […]
The Chinese icebreaker Xue Long departed Shanghai on June 27 for a three-month expedition that will take it to the Arctic. 120 people are on board, including scientists from France, Denmark, Iceland, and Taiwan. According to China Daily, researchers will study the effects of changes in the Arctic ecosystem on the climate of China and […]
In the latest edition of Russia in Global Affairs, Sergei Karaganov suggests that Russia needs three capitals: Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Vladivostok. The third city would be the capital of Siberia and would constitute a new economic capital for Russia. Vladivostok is about as far south as you can get in Siberia, and it’s really […]
Fatou Bensouda, newly sworn in as prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is getting a lot of advice. Much of it is well-meaning. As the first African and the first woman to hold the post, Bensouda has rightly inspired much good feeling. For those who disagreed with her predecessor, one of her assets is, apparently, […]
Ronald Deibert is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab and the University of Toronto. He is a cofounder and a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative and Information Warfare Monitor. He is author of the Great Decisions 2012 article Cybersecurity: the new frontier. He […]
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that as many as one in ten cases of tuberculosis in China is multi-drug-resistant, with eight percent of those cases being extensively drug-resistant (XDR). One in four cases is resistant to at least one drug. Although China has a relatively low prevalence rate (108 […]
Dr. Payam Akhavan is a Professor of International Law at McGill University, co-founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, and the first Legal Advisor to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Tribunals at The Hague. Dr. Akhavan sat down with Reza Akhlaghi, senior writer at Foreign Policy Association, to discuss the following issues: […]
Recently I’ve focused on democracy issues on a pretty grand scale: the nation of Egypt’s first open presidential elections, Greece’s struggle to form a government and how it might impact the global economy. Yet one of the remarkable things about democracy is that you don’t need large numbers to make a difference. Sometimes all it […]
At the beginning of May, I analyzed the unfolding Chen Guangcheng diplomatic controversy with the valuable input of guest contributor and Atlantic fellow Helen Gao. Today, I look ahead to what Mr. Chen’s future may hold. A little over a month ago, dissident Chen Guangcheng was living under house arrest in a farming village in […]
Today, Iran and the 5+1 group of permanent UN Security Council members (plus Germany) will sit down in Baghdad to discuss the terms of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Danaiifar, explained that merely hosting the talks demonstrated a historic chapter in the history of Iraq. But what does the event actually mean […]