Recent YaleGlobal Articles

Dueling Elections in Ukraine Test EU-Russian Ties

Chris Miller
 November 4, 2014
Two sets of elections expose a deep divide among Ukrainian citizens over support for closer ties with the European Union versus traditional reliance on Russia: With a reported 60 percent turnout, the October 26 parliamentary elections gave the president and prime minister a majority that will allow...

China’s Tianxia: Do All Under Heaven Need One Arbiter?

June Teufel Dreyer
 October 30, 2014
Some Chinese scholars point to the 5th century BC as possible model that “under a virtuous China one could return to the golden age,” explains political science professor June Teufel Dreyer in her excerpt from a longer paper to be published by The Journal of Contemporary China. As suggested by...

Surrogacy: Human Right or Reproductive Exploitation?

Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin
 October 28, 2014
With the spread of reproductive technology, surrogate parenting has risen sharply in recent years; it's estimated that half of all such births since 1978 occurred during the last six years. Regulations and costs for the practice vary worldwide, report demographers Joseph Chamie and Barry...

Lessons From Versailles for Today’s Middle East

Marc Grossman and Simon Henderson
 October 22, 2014
The Middle East is in disarray and the international community is urged to tackle root causes of the conflict by focusing on the end of World War I and treaties behind many of the region’s borders. “Many groups came to Versailles to plead for the chance to determine their own futures only to...

Government Approval Not Enough, Businesses Need Social License

John Morrison
 October 21, 2014
Globalization drives business deals around the globe along with keen new awareness about social, environmental and other consequences of development. Best business practice now demands consent of the local people, suggests John Morrison, author of The Social License: How to Keep Your Organization...

How Wall Street Is Killing Big Oil

Deepak Gopinath
 October 16, 2014
Companies rely on stock markets to raise money by selling small shares of ownership to investors. But investors may be killing rather than boosting major private energy companies. “Once reliable market beaters, Big Oil shares are lagging,” writes economist Deepak Gopinath. “Under pressure from...

TPP, China and the Future of Global Trade Order

Shuaihua Cheng
 October 14, 2014
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiated by 12 nations, could account for one third of all global trade. But so far, China is not included even though the country is a top trade partner for most of the participants and the world’s leading economy when accounting for purchasing power parity. TPP...

New Theater of Cruelty: Beheadings Demand Civilization’s Response

Joji Sakurai
 October 9, 2014
Islamic State extremists burst forth on the world scene with brutal acts, with all the absurd petulance of an angry, bullying yet powerless adolescent desperate for attention. In an era of rapid communications, images and messages spread instantly. The depraved put on a performance – a new theater...

Democracy’s Messy Process Challenged in the Street

Humphrey Hawksley
 October 7, 2014
By definition, democracy entails both representative government and majority rule. Factions, minority or majority, who take a disliking to some government policies no longer bide their time, cooperating in the process while waiting for the next election. “The new reality is that tenure in office is...

Melting of Arctic Ice Opening Up New Routes to Asia

Christoph Seidler, Gerald Traufetter
 October 4, 2014
Melting polar ice steadily opens the once-frozen Arctic to commercial traffic. One route along the Russian coast reduces travel time between Europe and Asia by nearly half; in the Northwest Passage of the Canadian Arctic, 24 ships passed through last year compared to 69 during the previous century...

Gloomy Outlook for Ghana Where Gold Does Not Shine Anymore

Vikram Mansharamani
 October 2, 2014
A country’s fortunes can rise and fall quickly. Ghana was hailed just two years ago as the world’s fastest growing economy, but now struggles with currency devaluation, poor infrastructure and an entrenched bureaucracy, explains Vikram Mansharamani, author, global equity investor and Yale lecturer...

Modi: Forging New Relationships with Washington

Sumit Ganguly
 September 30, 2014
Based on his own track record and promises to deliver economic growth to all of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was swept into office with a decisive parliamentary majority. Domestic prosperity is linked with global ambitions, and one is not secure without the other, suggests Sumit Ganguly,...

US and Vietnam to Discuss Curbing China’s Sea Claims

David Brown
 September 25, 2014
Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Washington early October. The two nations, at war more than 40 years ago, now find common interest in protecting open sea lanes in the South China Sea. China asserts sweeping claims, going as far as to...

Silk Road Diplomacy – Twists, Turns and Distorted History

Tansen Sen
 September 23, 2014
In foreign policy initiatives, China’s leaders promote an idyllic version of the Silk Road network of land and maritime routes stretching from Europe to Asia’s eastern coast, linking diverse cultures in trade. The goal is to link China’s historic and modern roles in promoting peace and prosperity...

How to Fund the Ebola Fight

Paula Kavathas
 September 18, 2014
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Ebola today, at the request of the United States. The disease is spreading quickly in West Africa and, with global air travel, could quickly hop new borders. The health infrastructure of West Africa is weak, with limited resources and...

War in Ukraine Exposes Russia’s Weakness

Chris Miller
 September 16, 2014
The Eurasian Union, as conceived by Russia, was supposed to rival the European Union as a trade and economic force. “Most notable about the Eurasian Union is not the geopolitical vision that motivates it, but how badly the entire project has gone,” argues Chris Miller, a PhD candidate at Yale...

China to Hong Kong: You Can Vote, We Select the Candidates

George Chen
 September 11, 2014
After Beijing’s promise of universal suffrage for the 2017 election, Hong Kong, which was handed over to China by the British colonial ruler in 1997, had anticipated more democracy. But China dashed such hopes by announcing plans to pre-approve candidates for the election of a chief executive,...

Argentina Default Flashes Warning to Emerging Markets

Will Hickey
 September 9, 2014
Argentina, among the world’s top 25 economies, is trying to seek relief with bondholders and avoid being locked out of international credit markets. A US judge has sided with a minority of bondholders led by a US billionaire, blocking payments to the 90 percent who agreed to restructuring. For now...

Obama Waits for Lawful Way to Fight Islamic State Terrorists

Harold Hongju Koh
 September 4, 2014
International observers and critics in the United States repeatedly ask why President Barack Obama does not simply bomb areas controlled by the Islamic State terrorist group inside Iraq and Syria. “Part of the challenge lies in the maze of domestic and international law that must be navigated,”...

Confronting Islamic State Group: Coalition of Rivals?

Shashank Joshi
 September 2, 2014
The self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group moved swiftly through Syria and Iraq, committing war crimes in two countries ravaged by civil war and sectarian divide. The group’s evolving name and online maps make no secret of the group’s ambitions for restoring a caliphate. ISIS closes in on...
more
Subscribe to Featured Articles