Recent YaleGlobal Articles

Pacific Trade Deal Needs to Harmonize With Sustainable Development Goals

Shuaihua Wallace Cheng
 October 22, 2015
Developed and poorer developing nations often struggle to agree on global initiatives. But two major deals have been announced: The 193 members of the United Nations approved global action on 17 Sustainable Development Goals to reduce poverty, and 12 nations concluded negotiations on the...

Live Longer, Consume Less: Recipe for Slow Growth

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller
 October 20, 2015
Global growth no longer keeps the pace of just a decade ago. Researcher Joergen Oerstroem Moeller points to behaviors that contribute to reduced consumption: Life expectancy has risen, but ages for collecting pensions have remained steady at around age 60, thus stretching out the retirement stage...

Nepal's Constitutional Crisis Involves Giant Neighbors

Harsh V. Pant
 October 15, 2015
Nepal is undergoing a transition, putting forth a constitution after a decade of conflict, political upheavals and protests along with a devastating earthquake from which it has yet to recover. But the constitution, described as discriminating against ethnic groups that account for almost half the...

Narrow Court Ruling May Offer Room for Diplomacy on South China Sea Claims

Ashley Townshend
 October 13, 2015
The announcement is expected any day from the Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on whether it has jurisdiction to rule on the Philippines’ case against China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea. In the ensuing hearing, a narrow ruling against China’...

Rise of Muslim Population Poses Challenge for India

Riaz Hassan
 October 8, 2015
If current demographic trends continue, the ranks of religious believers in the world could rise through 2050, reports a Pew Research Report. Islam would show the fastest rate of growth, and the unaffiliated would decline in proportion to other religious categories. Riaz Hassan, director of the...

Putin’s Syria Move Raises Profile – With Risks

Thomas Graham
 October 6, 2015
Vladimir Putin, determined to revive Russia’s status as a global power, has rapidly mobilized forces to bolster the Assad regime in Syria. He orchestrated a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the September UN General Assembly meeting in New York, to give the appearance that he is taking...

Pakistan Keen to Keep Ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia

Debalina Ghoshal
 October 1, 2015
Diplomacy in Asia is complicated by religious conflict and sets of regional rivalries including Iran and Saudi Arabia, along with Pakistan and India. A deal on Iran’s nuclear program negotiated by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, could test strategic relations in Asia...

Xi-Obama Summit: Bridging the Trust Deficit in US-China Ties?

Robert A. Manning
 September 29, 2015
China and the United States disagree on many issues – including claims for the South China Sea, intellectual property protections, open access to the internet and free speech. Leaders of the world’s two largest economies also have reason to cooperate on global initiatives. Xi Jinping, China’s...

Is ASEAN Losing Its Way?

Amitav Acharya
 September 24, 2015
The charter for the Association of Southeast Asia Nations emphasizes economic growth and principles that support cooperation, renunciation of the use of force, mutual respect for members, and rejection of external interference or coercion. ASEAN’s track record for peaceful resolution of disputes...

UN Development Goals Ignore Population Growth

Joseph Chamie
 September 22, 2015
Population growth is linked to conflict, water shortages and resource depletion, climate change and mass migrations. The global population is now 7.3 billion people, up from 2.5 billion in 1950, and is expected to swell to near 11 billion by the end of the century. World leaders convene this week...

Can Trade Keep Iran in Line?

Jamsheed K. Choksy and Carol E. B. Choksy
 September 17, 2015
Iran has large oil and natural gas reserves, and after years of debilitating sanctions imposed for the country’s nuclear weapons program, the population of more than 75 million is eager to join the global marketplace. A plan of action between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, UK, France...

Border Chaos: Europe Reacts to Syrian Refugee Crisis

Chris Miller
 September 15, 2015
Thousands of families flee Syria, a nation devastated since 2011 civil war, a dictator’s crackdown with chemical weapons and infiltration by brutal extremists. Millions more people wait in barren refugee camps, lacking work and schools, near Syria’s borders. In just a week, more than 100,000 people...

Seeking Safety Abroad: Hidden Story in China’s FDI Statistics

Farok J. Contractor
 September 10, 2015
Despite a recent slowdown, China’s economy is still growing. Its citizens are much wealthier than they were just a few decades ago and like investors around the world, they seek secure places to store assets. “However, the fact is that enormous amounts of liquid money held by Chinese individuals...

China Aims to Keep Some Ghosts of History Alive

Börje Ljunggren
 September 8, 2015
Asia’s two great power marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. In a speech, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised by offering words of atonement for his country’s role while China celebrated with a grand military parade emphasizing victory against Japan. China has ample...

IMF to the Aid of Ukraine: Well-Intended, But Misguided

David R. Cameron
 September 3, 2015
Ukraine, battling separatists and demands for autonomy in its eastern regions, confronts a debt crisis. The International Monetary Fund approved $17.5 billion over four years and also called for another debt operation. After five months of negotiations, Ukraine received another $15.3 billion,...

Worried About China? Keep Calm as Markets Return to Earth

David Dapice
 September 1, 2015
A long anticipated slowdown in China’s growth prompted a downturn in stock prices and firm government interventions. The percentage of foreign investors in Chinese stocks are low, but the abrupt moves unnerved investors around the globe. Market prices fell in Europe, the United States, Japan and...

Europe’s New Economic Divide

Chris Miller
 August 27, 2015
Europe still wrestles over how to resolve the debt crisis in Greece. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund warned this month that Greece’s debt remains unsustainable, and she urged the country’s European partners to prepare to provide significant relief. “Few voters anywhere in...

Tension Highlights North Korea’s Limitations

Shim Jae Hoon
 August 25, 2015
North Korea is among the world’s most isolated nations. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the regime lashes out at South Korea, thriving just across the border. The most recent provocation: a landmine attack that wounded two South Korean border guards. Seoul responded by switching on...

New Delhi’s Soft Power Push

Harsh V. Pant
 August 20, 2015
Harvard University’s Joseph Nye identified a centuries-old concept, “soft power,” in the late 1980s: the ability of countries to attract admiration and followers through culture and values rather than coercion, military or “hard power.” Countries want to be liked, increasingly investing in soft...

Myanmar Ousts Rising Political Star

Bertil Lintner
 August 18, 2015
The West celebrated the promise of democratic reforms for Myanmar after a new government was installed in 2011. The military signaled its desire to restore relations with the West, ending crippling sanctions while reducing excessive reliance on neighboring China. Observers in the West had pointed...
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