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July 17, 2003
In an interview with the Straits Times, Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew expresses his views on the recent protests in Hong Kong against the proposed anti-subversion legislation. Lee predicts that Hong Kong’s special legal status is unlikely to be threatened, as it is based on the Basic Law for the territory. He also contends that Beijing would not sacrifice Hong Kong’s Chief Executive...

Cancun: A Battle for Life

Yanuar Nugroho July 16, 2003
Developing countries must be prepared to wage war on unfair trade regulations at the next round of WTO talks in Cancun, says an Indonesian scholar in the Jakarta Post. Recession has slowed the economies of the developed world and the September meeting in Cancun will likely be aimed at reducing trade barriers and opening the markets of developing countries to rich nations like the United States...

Don't Trust Technocrats

Joseph Stiglitz July 16, 2003
When developing countries fail to institute economic reforms recommended by expert technocrats, they are usually dismissed as populist and unenlightened, and will suffer consequences. But the fact of the matter is, says economist Joseph Stiglitz, many technocratic suggestions are not very appropriate given the specifics of developing countries. Economic policies are not neutral but political, and...

Workers Falling Behind in Mexico

Mary Jordan July 15, 2003
In Mexico, there are too many workers and too few jobs. The country has failed to recover from the financial crisis of the 1990s that sent the peso and the average standard of living plummeting. And, while the number of unskilled laborers remains high – indeed higher than ever before as women increasingly enter the workforce – lower wages in countries like Indonesia and Guatemala have lured...

Norway vs. the Glass Ceiling

Lizette Alvarez July 14, 2003
Women could soon find themselves much more at home in boardrooms across Norway. Part of a legislative trend spreading across Europe, at summer's end Norway's parliament is expected to reconfigure the sex ratio of corporate boardrooms so that women will occupy 40 percent of board seats by 2007. The bill is drawing concern from domestic business groups but arrives at a time when the...

Why is Russia Dragging its Feet on Kyoto?

Michael Grubb July 14, 2003
Russia is yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty designed to reduce the threat of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 110 countries, also includes provisions for market-oriented mechanisms for “trading emission allowances and emission credits granted for clean energy investment.” Michael Grubb and Yuri Safonov, scholars of climate...

Talk of a Washington Split Over North Korea Is Overblown

Victor D. Cha July 11, 2003
Compared with the Bush administration's speedy handling of the Iraq challenge, its response to North Korean provocation has been surprisingly slow. The reason is widely believed to be a split between hawks and doves in the administration. But Korea expert Victor Cha says the division is not as wide as press reports suggest. Everyone in Washington agrees: North Korea must disarm. And,...