In The News

Central Demands

Nayan Chanda May 8, 2014
Corruption and economic stagnation go hand in hand, and voters in India are hungry for change, suggests Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online. But big challenges – including a lack of jobs for the young, budget deficits, inflation and a regulatory morass – along with the need for coalition partners could delay change. “The formation of a new government may well alleviate some investor...

Yingluck’s Out. Now What, Thailand?

May 7, 2014
Polarization and a rural-urban divide are paralyzing Thai politics. A court removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, opening “a new and dangerous chapter in the implacable eight-year struggle between an amalgam of royalists, businessmen and the Bangkok elite, on one side, and the political empire headed by Yingluck’s brother, fugitive tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, on the other,” reports Asia...

Sanctions Will Not Deter Russia

David R. Cameron May 1, 2014
Ukraine concedes that its eastern part is in pro-Russian hands, and Russian buildup along the border continues. Russia’s security concerns in Ukraine trump any discomfort over sanctions. Russia contends the removal of Ukraine’s corrupt president defied constitutional limits that allowed replacement only in the case of death, ill health or impeachment. An April 17 agreement signed by Russia, US...

When Flimsy States Don't Fail

Lawrence P. Markowitz April 30, 2014
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan rank among the most corrupt nations in the world with imminent collapse long anticipated. But regimes hang on: “the state’s ability to manage and manipulate competition over local resources to the benefit of the government and its security apparatus has been key,” writes Lawrence P. Markowitz for Foreign Affairs. Markowitz compares how the leaders of the two Central...

Jihad in Nigeria: Past Lives On

Lamin Sanneh April 29, 2014
Boko Haram, a Salafist extremist group continues to terrorize northern Nigeria in a quest for a strict Islamist state. A bomb killed 75 in Abuja, April 14, followed the next day by the kidnapping of more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok. The group’s Arabic name suggests intention to wage jihad. But violence and coercion belie the meaning of jihad – a struggle against unbelief, mainly within...

The Rise of Asia Means You Need Different Style of Leadership

Rick Lash April 29, 2014
The challenges of globalization and global markets require new leadership – of broader collaboration among diverse players. “Countries and organizations can no longer operate under the outdated notion that they are surrounded by intact borders and bear sole responsibility for taking charge over what happens on their turf,” writes Rick Lash for the Globe and Mail. “Leadership in the new world...

Asia’s Big Democracies Head to the Polls

Pallavi Aiyar April 17, 2014
Unity in Diversity is a motto for both India and Indonesia, and ongoing elections demonstrate that Asia’s two largest democracies have much in common, explains journalist and author Pallavi Aiyar. Election operations are complex and impressive, considering that India has more than 800 million registered voters and Indonesia has nearly 200 million. “Noisy political rallies, outspoken trade...