Turkey was expected to offer a democratic model for other Muslim nations in the Middle East. Instead, the country under President Recep Erdoğan is displaying familiar authoritarian tendencies, with the Kurdish minority as a special target. “The parliament’s May 20 decision to approve an amendment...
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault invited international leaders to Paris on May 30 to make plans for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Peace and economic security go hand in hand. Israel is thriving despite boycotts by some European countries while the economic outlook is...
The United States and Vietnam are rapidly building a partnership based on trade and security agreements. US President Obama visited Vietnam on his way to the G7 meeting in Japan. During the visit, Obama lifted a ban on the sale of weapons to the country of 90 million and Vietnam will welcome US...
China has emphasized a bilateral approach on disputed claims in the East and South China Seas and fragmented the opposition. A united regional front could uphold the rules-based order and reduce the potential for conflict, argues journalist and author Yoichi Funabashi. “Mindful of its own tensions...
The Islamic State extremists have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Bangladesh on journalists, educators, atheists and religious minorities. Unfortunately, “the present regime, in denial about religious extremism, finds this trend to be politically expedient,” writes Sumit Ganguly,...
A multitude of internal and external economic and social forces push and pull at China, and author Terry Lautz, a Moynihan Research Fellow at Syracuse University, compares China to a fictional animal with two heads and minds facing opposite ways. “One looks toward openness and reform – freedom of...
The Arab Spring, a wave of protests sweeping through the Middle East in 2011, inspired hope for more freedoms in the region. Such anticipation was short-lived as authoritarian rulers recalibrated strategies for control by strengthening alliances with constituencies including elites, secular middle...
The United States is polarized and so are members of its major political parties, especially on foreign policy. Results of a Pew Research Study released today suggest that isolationist tendencies are tempered by recognition for the practical need for international engagement. “Wariness of...
Russia and China, fans of national sovereignty and obstacles for US influence, pivot to each other during times of troubles of their own making, whether the 2014 annexation of Crimea or the brutal crackdown of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. “Today, closer relations also help anchor Russia in...
Trade policy is among the issues prompting US voters to coalesce around Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as presumptive nominees for president. Clinton opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, calling for a crackdown on trade violations and more enforcement; Trump is critical of nearly all trade...
Member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produce about 40 percent of the world's crude oil, with exports representing about 60 percent of petroleum traded internationally. But when OPEC failed to reach agreement on controlling oil production levels at its April...
US President Barack Obama and other members of his administration have long labeled the Islamic State as a “cancer” that must be eliminated. Destroying ideological fervor is not easy, and extending the president’s analogy can offer a useful way for determining strategies for defeating the Islamic...
The world’s two largest economies are rivals that fare best when cooperating on their many shared interests, whether stemming climate change or nuclear proliferation. A key area of contention between the two powers is the South China Sea, and under Xi Jinping, China has been more aggressive in...
A series of Nuclear Security Summits since President Barack Obama took office in 2009 have raised global awareness and tightened security of the world’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. The need for securing stockpiles was highlighted in February after Belgian authorities...
US presidential candidates are responding to voters' ire over a complex tax code that shields the wealthiest from tax payments. Reports of corporate inversions – US firms relocating headquarters to take advantage of lower tax rates in countries like Ireland – highlight the negative...
Executives in the mining and steel industries miscalculated by expecting rapid growth to continue in China. China's leaders instead shifted the direction of their economy to rely less on manufacturing and more on services. Slowed growth led to a downturn in demand for commodities like iron ore...
“Not long ago the European Union stood as an unassailable beacon, a model for how trade and shared values could override historical hatreds and how a disparate collection of nations could work together under a single set of political values,” argues Humphrey Hawksley, BBC correspondent, in this...
Investing and trading in the Middle East carry high risk due to difficult political transitions and ongoing conflicts. Like other major economies, India leverages economic clout for strategic purposes, especially to isolate rival Pakistan’s military and intelligence capabilities. India, soon to be...
Security is essential for economic viability, and the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels suggest that European Union leaders underestimated the jihadist influences within their cities and the aggression near its borders. EU leaders must master geopolitics, influencing regional events and...
Uncertainty and instability threaten the global economy, and monetary stimulus by the central banks, including negative rates, is not delivering growth or confidence. So far, the United States is alone in breaking away from the pack to engage in monetary tightening and gradually lifting interest...
