In The News

Asia Worries About Growth of China’s Economic Power

Erik Eckholm November 24, 2003
As China continues to move from a planned toward a free market economy, several of its neighbors are finding foreign investment dwindling. The world’s most populous nation has successfully harnessed its great industrial power, and this has attracted hundreds of thousands of high-tech jobs and millions of dollars in investment that formerly went to countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and...

Winners and Losers at End of the Trade Talks

Andres Oppenheimer November 23, 2003
The signing of the Declaration of Miami last week by the 34 participating nations in the Americas "amounted to a broad agreement that allows countries to participate at their own preferred pace and scope in the negotiations, which are scheduled to end on Jan. 1, 2005," says commentator Andres Oppenheimer. The failure of WTO talks in Cancún had increased domestic pressure on the co-...

Superpower Dream Behind China's Heavy Industry Push

Guo Shiping November 19, 2003
Beijing's recent decision to invest in the development of heavy industries in northeastern China is not only an economically strategic move, says Chinese economist Guo Shiping. While heavy industry is a necessary backbone to long-term growth, Guo says, the shift away from a single-minded focus on light industry and service sectors will also better prepare China for true superpower status....

Resurgent Taliban Threatens Afghan Stability, US Says

Steven R. Weisman November 19, 2003
The US-led forces that overthrew the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan two years ago still have a lot of work to do to secure the state. Though President Hamid Karzai, a pro-western Pashtun leader, is in office, local ethnic conflicts and power struggles continue to dominate the political arena. Despite devoting more than 16,000 soldiers and peacekeepers to the country, the US and its allies...

‘Let NATO Take Charge of Iraq's Security' - Clinton

Nayan Chanda November 19, 2003
In an exclusive interview with YaleGlobal, former US President Bill Clinton offered his views on a variety of contentious issues, including the Iraq War, the Middle East Roadmap, and the rise of anti-globalization sentiment around the world. With regards to Iraq, Clinton advocated that Bush transfer control to a UN-sanctioned NATO force headed by a US commander. Having NATO lead the efforts, he...

Worthy Goal

Eric Farnsworth November 18, 2003
“The negotiations over a Free Trade Area of the Americas are not ultimately about agriculture subsidies, orange juice, or even competing claims of jobs won or lost,” argues Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas. “Rather, they are about building a democratic hemisphere consistent with strategic interests.” He explains that direct foreign investment drives economic growth...

US Backs Down Over Free Trade in Americas

Guy de Jonquières November 17, 2003
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement will come under debate in Miami on Thursday. Each of the nations involved is working hard in the days leading up to the negotiations to push its particular vision of what the agreement should look like or whether there even should be a regional trade area in the Americas. The US has advocated a more extreme version of liberalization than what...