In The News

APEC Leaders Silent on South China Sea

Trefor Moss November 19, 2015
The attacks on civilians in Paris by the Islamic State have rallied world leaders to cooperate on combatting terrorism. Such coordination could ease tensions in other areas or distract attention. At the summit for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, held in Manila, 21 leaders urged cooperation on fighting terrorism and improving economic growth. “On the sensitive matter of the South China Sea, the...

Crisis Without End: The Disintegration of the European Project

Brendan Simms and Timothy Less November 14, 2015
Europeans and their leaders increasingly struggle over integration. Writing for New Statesman, Brendan Simms and Timothy Less remind that such struggles have historical precedents, including the breakups of Austria-Hungary, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Those examples are used to analyze a scenario for possible collapse of the European Union. EU integration has grown at a fast pace. “This was...

Hollande Blames ISIS for Attacks in Paris as Death Toll Rises

Adam Nossiter, Aurelien Breeden and Nicola Clark November 14, 2015
Terrorist attacks on a stadium, restaurants and concert hall in the heart of Paris, killing at least 127 and wounding more than 300, will test European unity. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility. France is under a state of emergency with borders closed. “The attacks, and the possibility that the Islamic State was to blame, promised to further traumatize France and other European...

With Aung San Suu Kyi’s Rise, China and Myanmar Face New Relationship

Jane Perlez November 12, 2015
China anticipated an election win in Myanmar by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar and invited her for a meeting with President Xi Jinping. “Among ordinary people in Myanmar, China is seen as a heavy-handed northern neighbor largely interested in extracting valuable natural resources like timber and jade – and prone to plundering the land to build pipelines and a vast hydroelectric dam...

For Gulf States, Forging National Identity Trumps Regional Integration

Ellen Laipson November 11, 2015
For the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – national identity may matter more than collection action as region. The countries resist power for Iran and extremism, but differ on Islam as a political force, dependence on and rights for foreign workers, and regional security priorities. “It’s on the security...

The US and Russia Face to Face as Ice Curtain Melts

Humphrey Hawksley November 5, 2015
The US defense budget for 2014 is more than double that of Russia and China’s combined. Measuring naval strength is trickier as comparisons of hulls or personnel matter less than surveillance and sophisticated weaponry and vessels like ice-cutters. As climate change melts sea ice, countries eye the Arctic for natural resources and trade routes, reassessing naval positions. Journalist Humphrey...

Is China the Next Mexico?

Jorge Guajardo November 5, 2015
China’s political and economic transformations should be compared with that of Mexico, suggests Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador to China, in an essay for Zócalo Public Square. In the 1990s, during the negotiations for the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, analysts cheered Mexico’s economic expertise and openness to free trade by the ruling party with its lock on power. “Lost in all...