In The News

Michael Pettis August 20, 2007
A US consumption spree has spawned a global savings glut, and nations such as China and Japan with large reserves of cash still hope for sizable returns. “Every period of globalization in the past has had its origins in one or more events that gave a big boost to global liquidity,” writes finance professor Michael Pettis for the Wall Street Journal. “As liquidity expanded and risk appetite rose,...
Ahmed Rashid August 16, 2007
Following a bitter split and violence, Britain's colonial rule over India ended 60 years ago this week, resulting in two independent nations, the Islamic state of Pakistan and the secular state of India. The division left many boundary issues unresolved and institutions in disarray, resulting in fierce nationalism, bitterness and wars. Those challenges, combined with military rule,...
Robert Lee Hotz August 13, 2007
Nations can impose the strictest of environmental standards – but that does not stop the pollution seeping in from other nations. Plumes of “man-made sulfates, smog, industrial fumes, carbon grit and nitrates” collect over manufacturing powerhouse China and then move with prevailing winds around the globe. On some days, almost one third of the air pollution in cities like Los Angeles can be...
Julia Preston August 10, 2007
With the failure of a US immigration bill, most analysts assumed immigration reform was dead until after the next presidential election. But states have taken the matter into their own hands, considering more than 1000 pieces of legislation on immigration, with an unprecedented number of laws passed by 41 state legislatures, along with more from some cities and towns. Varying laws – most hostile...
Daryl Lindsey August 10, 2007
China is intent on using the 2008 Olympics to display Chinese culture along with the achievement of economic growth within a political system of communism. But activists are just as intent on exposing human-rights violations. China’s organizing effort includes not only constructing elaborate structures and planning eye-catching events, but also arresting journalists and cracking down on civil...
August 9, 2007
On August 7, more than a month before Ms. Benazir Bhutto announced the date of her return to Pakistan, she sat down with YaleGlobal Online editor Nayan Chanda to discuss the state of her country and why she was determined to return home. She did return as she had said she would, and on December 27, 2007, she was killed in a terrorist attack. It was a death as foretold. Her comment on the task at...
Nayan Chanda August 9, 2007
General Pervez Musharraf has been a key ally in the US war on terror, but opposition parties demand free elections as scheduled, even as Pakistan churns with political instability and street violence. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in exile, is among the candidates ready to return to Pakistan and work for stability and moderation. In an exclusive interview with Bhutto – the second part of...