In The News

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, including a 20 percent “haircut” in the $18 billion of bonds held by the private creditors. More than...

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 the many countries closely linked to China’s economy. China has long been regarded as the world’s...

China’s Delusions of Regional Hegemony

Philip Bowring August 26, 2015
Rivalries in Asia could prevent the continent’s rise. Governments are nervous that cooperation with a rival extends too much control. Concern runs high about China’s power, and many “wonder if President Xi Jinping’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ infrastructure plan is driven more by China’s strategic ambitions than commercial logic,” writes journalist Philip Bowring for the Financial Times. Asians may...

Cuba: Transforming a Revolution

Patricia Alejandro July 23, 2015
The United States and Cuba are reopening their respective embassies and preparing for more exchanges in diplomacy and trade. “Cubans and Americans are equally curious about exploring the other side since December when President Barack Obama and Raúl Castro made the surprise announcement on restoration of full diplomatic relations between the two countries,” writes Patricia Alejandro, a Harvard...

Globalization With Chinese Characteristics – What Are the Prospects?

Jean-Pierre Lehmann July 13, 2015
The international community has long recognized that the choices made by China weigh large on any global issue or industry. “In the incredibly fast-paced transformations in the dozen years since the publication China has become a global power in virtually every domain,” writes Jean-Pierre Lehmann for Forbes. China’s outbound foreign direct investment now exceeds inbound FDI. Likewise, China sends...

To Save Its Stock Markets, China Is Putting Its Whole Financial System at Risk

Gwynn Guilford July 8, 2015
Stock prices in China doubled in value over the last year before moving downward, losing 30 percent since mid-June. The country’s leaders struggle to stabilize the markets by cutting interest rates and encouraging large purchases by large brokerages and insurance companies. Rules for buying on margin were loosened. Such interventions may not calm nerves. “In recent days, the Chinese government...

The Blue Amazon

Nathan Thompson and Robert Mugah June 24, 2015
Brazil, the world’s seventh largest economy and South America’s largest, is looking to expand its reach across the Atlantic: “Brazil, in particular, wants to safeguard its on- and offshore natural resources, which the navy calls the Amazônia Azul, or Blue Amazon,” write Nathan Thompson and Robert Mugah for Foreign Affairs. “These include extensive petroleum and gas reserves, as well as fishing...