In The News

Bitten by the Deal That Once Fed Us

Gordon Laxer July 8, 2008
US Democrats’ criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement during the presidential primaries has sparked concern in Canada that a Barack Obama White House might seek to renegotiate that trade deal on terms more favorable to the United States. That means Canada and Mexico could also tinker with the terms as well. Writing for the Global and Mail, Gordon Laxer argues that Canadians should...

Chinese Checkers

Nayan Chanda July 7, 2008
Producer and consumer countries can’t expect to escape unscathed if economic problems strike one or the other as a maze of complicated challenges confront the global economy: The subprime mortgage crisis battered global banks; businesses have trouble finding credit; consumer spending has slowed; and energy prices are on the rise. Giant sovereign wealth funds based in Asia and the Middle East came...

Zimbabwe and the AU: Getting Away With Murder

July 5, 2008
Robert Mugabe lost an election to Morgan Tsvangirai in March. But instead of gracefully transferring power, he intimidated Tsvangirai’s supporters with threats and violence, A June 27 run-off election offered a ballot that carried only Mugabe’s name. While some leaders in Africa have demanded Mugabe’s ouster, most have remained timid, as Zimbabwe's dictator attended and addressed an African...

Election Season Wild Card: Covert Operations Against Iran, Al-Qaeda

Kevin Whitelaw July 1, 2008
Nearly three decades after the Iran hostage crisis, confrontation with Iran may again make November’s presidential election susceptible to an “October surprise.” Amid reports that US Special Forces are already operating in Iran, the specter of an escalating conflict with Tehran looms over the presidential campaign. Meanwhile, reports that the US military may begin covert operations in Pakistan...

Indian IT Industry Roots for Barack Obama

Bhargavi Kerur July 1, 2008
Presidential candidate Barack Obama points to the need to fix the American economy and proposes expanding overseas opportunities by outsourcing jobs as a possible solution for a flailing economy. Business is a two-way street, this article from the Daily News & Analysis in India suggests, and nations that outsource work can benefit as much as the nations that receive outsourced work. Plenty of...

McCain’s Delicate Immigration Dance

Michael Scherer July 1, 2008
John McCain must walk a fine line between courting up-for-grabs Latino voters who are sympathetic toward illegal immigrants and retaining traditional Republican voters who demand a harsher line toward those same immigrants. McCain has already earned the enmity of many Republicans over his support for comprehensive immigration reform. For now, the anti-immigration voters have no options – the...

Obama Will Give Free Trade a Rough Ride

Tony Parkinson July 1, 2008
Columnist Tony Parkinson argues that Barack Obama’s hostility towards free trade signals a loss of confidence in US trading partners that threatens, in turn, to cause those partners to lose confidence in the United States. The international community is eager to see an end to George Bush’s unilateralist attitude towards national security. Obama’s unilateralist attitude towards trade, however,...