In The News

Turkey No Longer a Democratic Model for the Middle East

Mohammed Ayoob May 31, 2016
Turkey was expected to offer a democratic model for other Muslim nations in the Middle East. Instead, the country under President Recep Erdoğan is displaying familiar authoritarian tendencies, with the Kurdish minority as a special target. “The parliament’s May 20 decision to approve an amendment to the constitution to strip a select group of MPs, many from the predominantly Kurdish HDP, of...

6 X-Factor Risks Keeping Fund Managers, Investors Up at Night

Marcus Padley May 27, 2016
Global fund managers responding to a monthly Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey identify and rank risks that could cause an abrupt and abnormal drop in global markets. Britain’s possible exit from the European Union tops the list for May. Second, an ongoing concern is the risk of devaluation and defaults in China. Another ongoing concern is quantitative failure, “that trillions of dollars...

Bangladesh Accommodates Extremism, Spelling Danger for the Region

Sumit Ganguly May 17, 2016
The Islamic State extremists have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Bangladesh on journalists, educators, atheists and religious minorities. Unfortunately, “the present regime, in denial about religious extremism, finds this trend to be politically expedient,” writes Sumit Ganguly, a professor at Indiana University and also a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute...

Of Two Minds on China

Terry Lautz May 12, 2016
A multitude of internal and external economic and social forces push and pull at China, and author Terry Lautz, a Moynihan Research Fellow at Syracuse University, compares China to a fictional animal with two heads and minds facing opposite ways. “One looks toward openness and reform – freedom of expression, unfettered access to the internet and an independent legal system,” Lautz explains. “The...

March of Arab Spring on Pause

Hicham Alaoui May 10, 2016
The Arab Spring, a wave of protests sweeping through the Middle East in 2011, inspired hope for more freedoms in the region. Such anticipation was short-lived as authoritarian rulers recalibrated strategies for control by strengthening alliances with constituencies including elites, secular middle classes and workers who are wary of rapid changes that might threaten economic stability, explains...

"My Name Is Sadiq Khan and I'm the Mayor of London"

Nabanita Sircar May 10, 2016
Cities and nations inspire, not when their citizens fear and denigrate immigrants, but instead welcome the newcomers’ skills and ideas and celebrate their rising influence. “In a world where terrorism and Islamophobia is spreading rapidly, London showed its inherent multicultural, diverse character when it elected the first Muslim Mayor, Sadiq Khan,” explains Nabanita Sircar for Outlook magazine...

Is Globalization Really Fueling Populism?

Daniel Gros May 9, 2016
An angry populism – a belief that ordinary citizens, not elites, should control government while avoiding centrism and compromise – is on the rise in Europe and the United States. Daniel Gros questions the suggestion that the so-called losers of globalization are fueling such populism, suggesting the trends are not new. Inequality in education levels is not new, and workers with more education...