In The News

The Land of Gas and Honey

Robin M. Mills October 27, 2011
The discovery of two huge natural gas fields, Tamar and Leviathan, off Israel’s coast promises energy security for the nation at a time when its Egyptian gas deal is under risk and its current largest field, Mari-B, nears depletion. But like other gas fields around the globe, these stretch along waters that belong to feuding countries. Israel’s two fields overlap a bit with waters off Lebanon,...

Mongolia Opens Doors for Foreign Investment

Steven Borowiec October 21, 2011
Foreign investment in Mongolia’s mining sector – coal, copper, gold and more – is fueling rapid growth. Like other developing nations, Mongolia wrestles with how to control the development and spread wealth throughout a dispersed population of 2.7 million in sustainable ways rather than passing it on to a handful of elites or creating a welfare state, explains journalist Steven Borowiec. He...

Haiti: Tailor-Made for South-South Cooperation

Jonathan Glennie October 20, 2011
With a history of colonization, debt, US trade boycotts and domestic corruption, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Recent natural disasters, including hurricanes, storms and the 2010 earthquake compounded the challenges. Writing for the Guardian, Jonathan Glennie recommends that Haiti explore South-South cooperation, adding that “no amount of aid from the west can make up for...

Problems Will Be Global – And Solutions Will Be, Too

Anne-Marie Slaughter October 13, 2011
A politically integrated world; the United Nations Security Council hosting expanded and regional organizations, like the African Union; and new applications of economic integration – this could be the face of global diplomacy 15 years from now, predicts Anne-Marie Slaughter in an article for Foreign Policy. The strongest states in 2025 will be those that have maintained “vibrant economies...

Laos’ Spanking New Road to Nowhere

Haseenah Koyakutty October 12, 2011
To depend on others or not, that’s the dilemma of tiny Laos in connecting with neighboring nations. A highway, funded and built by Thailand, would connect the undeveloped Oudomxay region with Vietnam, Thailand and China. But a bridge crossing the Mekong River, part of the project, is left unfinished as China and Laos debate contract conditions. China’s population is 200 times larger than that of...

Burma Delivers Rebuff to China

Bertil Lintner October 3, 2011
Ever since the brutal Burmese suppression of democracy movement in the late 1980s, China has emerged as the principal backer of the military regime that renamed the country Myanmar. Sanctioned by the West, the military regime depends on China for trade, arms supplies and infrastructure aid. Now a presidential announcement suspending the Myitsone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River, a joint...

China’s Diversified Energy Strategy

S. Kumar October 3, 2011
China, the world’s biggest consumer of energy, “faces challenges in the area of energy security” due to its contentious political relationships and dependence on supply routes. In this opinion piece for Al Jazeera, S. Kumar describes diversified energy strategy that China is employing with both foreign governments and companies. For example, China is “actively trying to attract investments from...