In The News

Big Projects Face Growing Resistance

Sven Böll, Horand Knaup and Paul Middelhoff July 16, 2014
The internet and social media have transformed grassroots protesters into rapid-response teams. Modern movements are “Well-informed, confrontational and devoid of respect for authority” with a “radical undercurrent,” notes an article in Spiegel Online: “Wherever ambitious construction ventures loom on the horizon in Germany – from the cities to the countryside, from the coastlines in the north to...

The Islamic World and the West: Recovering Common History

Nayef Al-Rodhan July 15, 2014
One out of five people in the world are Muslim, and many Europeans express fear about growing numbers of Muslim migrants. “Islam in Europe tends to be viewed as not only a recent, but also a foreign and threatening presence,” explains Nayef Al-Rodhan, University of Oxford philosopher, neuroscientist and geostrategist. “Europe and the Arab-Islamic world have brushed shoulders for centuries, and...

US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

July 14, 2014
Tensions run high between the world’s two largest economies over trade and currency, cyberhacking, and maritime disputes in the East and South China seas. Top officials of the United States and China meet annually to review economic, financial and security concerns, and the most recent US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue was held July 9 and 10. “The S&ED is now the main event in the U.S...

Hunger Games Salute “Catching Fire” in Thailand

July 8, 2014
Fiction meets reality as anti-coup demonstrators in Thailand are using the hand gesture made famous in the movie The Hunger Games – as a sign of resistance against a brutal regime: “The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the country of Panem where the wealthy Capitol rules over 12 poorer districts,” reports the Express Tribune. Protesters assign multiple levels of...

Hong Kong Votes, Beijing Fumes: Analysis

Dylan Loh Ming Hui July 3, 2014
A global finance capital is in turmoil over how to organize an election set for 2017. Beijing plans for universal suffrage in Hong Kong with a slate of candidates approved by a 1,200-member pro-China committee, explains Dylan Loh Ming Hui, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, in Eurasian Review. Occupy Central wants the nominating process to be open. China blasted an unofficial...

China Backs Argentina's Position on Falkland Islands

Fiona Govan June 27, 2014
China has proposed a short-term solution of “dialogue” for the territorial fight between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, or the Malvinas as they are known in Spanish. Britain refuses to discuss the matter with Argentina. “In a referendum held in March 2012, 99.8 per cent of the islanders voted in favour of remaining a British Oversees territory,” reports the Telegraph...

The Palestinian National Reconciliation: Regional and International Implications

Fadi Elhusseini June 26, 2014
After seven years, fragmented Palestine has come together to form a unity government that has implications for the entire Middle East. Unrest and conflict throughout the Middle East prompted compromise, suggests Fadi Elhusseini in the Middle East Monitor. “Developments in Syria and its repercussions in Lebanon have also prompted the Palestinian factions to reconsider their domestic policies.” He...