In The News

Bertil Lintner October 3, 2007
Burma, called Myanmar by its current rulers, is rich with natural resources, yet one of the poorest nations in Asia. All resources go toward keeping the current regime in power, and the military junta relies on violent repression to stop Buddhist monks and activists marching in protest to seek political and economic reform. This two-part YaleGlobal series analyzes the international response. In...
Mira Kamdar October 3, 2007
Inspired by the success of AIPAC and other lobbying organizations in forging a pro-Israeli American foreign policy, Indian-American groups are beginning to hit their stride. The biggest success for what World Policy Institute fellow Mira Kamdar calls the "India lobby" has been the overwhelming passage through the US Congress of a nuclear-cooperation deal that would legitimize India...
Jim Yardley October 2, 2007
China teeters on the edge of a water crisis. The country has five times the population of the United States, but less water, with the bulk of that supply in the south. Past policy mistakes, a dense population, climate change and galloping economic growth has shrunk China’s water supply. Agricultural irrigation accounts for most water usage, and pollution taints sources nationwide. The...
A. Lin Neumann September 25, 2007
Burma has endured harsh military rule since 1962, which has devastated the economy, making the nation, since re-named by its rulers as Myanmar, an embarrassment among the fast-growing economies throughout Southeast Asia. Over the years, pro-democracy activists participated in various protests, only to face brutal crackdowns from the authoritarian government, with protestors facing long prison...
Bruce Stokes September 14, 2007
An old saying suggests that “killing two birds with one stone” is the height of efficiency. Pressuring China to re-set the yuan to a higher value and cut subsides has not helped to lower the US trade deficit. Instead, the US could take immediate action regarding one major import, suggests Bruce Stokes. “Net US outlays for imported oil and natural gas exceed the nation’s trade balance with China,...
John Vidal September 10, 2007
The notion of an automobile powered by fuel produced from plants appeals to any nation worried about dependence on foreign oil or declining oil reserves. A biofuel boom presents ostensibly environmentally-friendly implications, yet leads some analysts to predict a food crisis for the world’s most vulnerable populations. Plants for fuel will inevitably compete with food-plants, prompting rising...
Joschka Fischer September 10, 2007
Russia spans two continents, making it a geostrategic giant. With some of the world’s largest reserves of fossil fuel, the nation is a volatile economic hard hitter. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian politicians have opened to more trade and global negotiations with the US and Europe, but strains of authoritarianism run deep. Europe, concerned about intrusion or bullying, would prefer...