In The News

In “Umbrella Revolution,” China Confronts Limits of Its Power

David Lague, James Pomfret and Greg Torode October 2, 2014
The “one country, two systems” approach in Hong Kong is not working well for China. A free press, critical of controls, and independent courts that have already released student leaders are weakening China’s control of the island: Chinese authorities “need to contain the campaign for democracy in one of Asia’s leading financial hubs without the tools employed on the mainland to suppress dissent...

Afghanistan Has New President; Vote Totals Kept Secret

Daniel Politi September 23, 2014
Afghanistan has concluded its first peaceful transfer of power, though the process with elections in April and June was possibly riddled with fraud and long-drawn with months of negotiations and costly recounts overseen by the United Nations. The outcome will lead to a new form of governance for Afghanistan as two finalists share power: Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai will serve as president, and opponent...

Foreign Funding of Think Tanks Is Corrupting Our Democracy

John B. Judis September 17, 2014
Foreign governments donate millions to US think tanks to promote their positons, suggests a report in the New York Times. Research costs money; donors, foreign or domestic, may influence topics of research, sources and conclusions. “Washington think tanks, which were originally intended as a source of impartial, objective, and disinterested information, have become arms of foreign as well as...

Global Governance Reimagined – An “Astonishing Diversity” of Cooperation

Keith Porter September 12, 2014
Global governance is a reality. Packages, medical advice, diplomacy cross borders every day – “All this (and much more) happens every day within well-established rules thanks to global governance, which formalizes cooperative problem solving among nations,” writes Keith Porter, president and CEO of the Stanley Foundation for its publication Courier. The venues for global cooperation have expanded...

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, explains George Chen, financial editor for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and a 2014 Yale...

Immigrant Vote Could Sway Tight Scottish Independence Referendum

Lisa De Bode September 10, 2014
Scotland will head to the polls on September 18 for a referendum on independence from Great Britain, and immigrants could represent one in five likely voters. Like other Scots, immigrants are divided. Ending the 300-year union with England and Northern Ireland would have economic and political consequences, reports Lisa De Bode for Al Jazeera America, including reduced power of the Labour Party...

Beijing Puts Hong Kong Business on Alert

Chris Dodd September 1, 2014
Hong Kong will have elections in 2017, but voters must select from candidates approved by China. Protesters plan to target the financial district. “Beijing’s intransigence and protesters’ plans to bring traffic in Hong Kong’s streets to a standstill are a threat to the city’s reputation as a stable financial centre,” writes Chris Dodd for AsiaFinance. Credit agencies and banks have issued...