In The News

A Calibrated Takeover of the South China Sea

Nayan Chanda May 22, 2014
China may have taken advantage of fragmentation among its neighbors and a preoccupied international community to set up a big exploration drilling rig in disputed waters. Vietnam “may join the Philippines in challenging China in international court as well as strengthening security cooperation with the U.S.,” writes Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal in his column for the WorldPost. “The rise of...

Obama Travels to Asia, But Future of Trade Pact Is Uncertain

David Dapice April 21, 2014
President Barack Obama begins travels this week to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines as the United States strives to convince Asian allies that a pivot to Asia is real. An indicator of US policy success is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact being negotiated by 12 Pacific Rim nations, explains economist David Dapice. Such regional trade agreements are emerging beyond the...

Chinese Premier Li Warns Southeast Asia Nations Against “Provocations”

Andrew Browne April 11, 2014
The message from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Boao Forum for Asia was meant to reassure China’s nervous neighbors: China is committed to peaceful development and supports initiatives that strengthen maritime cooperation, yet would respond to “provocations” that destabilize the South China Sea. “China's definition of what constitutes a provocation is linked to its claims to what it calls...

Nepal Forces Mount Everest Climbers to Double as Trash Collectors

Mark Johanson March 7, 2014
Leave no trace is a motto for many hikers – but not for those who attempt the treacherous climb of Mount Everest. “There are empty oxygen cylinders, tent debris, batteries and climbing gear -- not to mention human refuse and the bodies of fallen climbers, whose corpses don’t decompose in the permanently frozen highlands,” reports Mark Johanson for International Business Times, adding that Nepal...

US FDA Chief: If You Want Our Market, Meet Our Standards

March 4, 2014
US regulators seek cooperation on quality control from its supplier of foods and medicines. "If Indian pharmaceutical companies want to sell in the US, they need to comply with our standards, practices and expectations,” said Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, according to a report in the Times of India. She offered the comments during a trip to India and...

Debt Ceiling Redux?

James Leitner and Ian Shapiro February 20, 2014
US Congress raised the artificial debt ceiling to pay bills without a fuss, but the move may galvanize extremists who want to slow government spending, explain James Leitner, president of Falcon Management, and Ian Shapiro, a Yale political science professor. Economists around the globe agree the United States should slow spending and reduce debt, but oppose the crude approach that would...

Linking to Free Web Content Is Legal, Says EU Court

February 17, 2014
Free online content can be freely linked by others and does not violate copyright law, so rules the European Court of Justice. A Swedish court requested the ruling after disputes between journalists and a web company that posted links to online news articles, reports BBC News. “The journalists argued in the original case that users of Retriever Sverige's website would not know that they had...