In The News

Asia's Space Race

Dingli Shen November 13, 2007
Nearly four decades after the first man walked on the moon, Asia's major powers hurry in their own space race. China and Japan both recently launched spacecraft to the moon, and India has sent satellites into orbit since 1975. The latest missions and future ambitions raise eyebrows, particularly since China's January 2007 test, in which a rocket was used to destroy an old weather...

Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped

Paul J. Saunders October 18, 2007
Most world leaders agree that global warming is a real and pressing issue, and are ready for any ideas on how to stop, fix or adapt to the problem. Environmentalists still express hope that conservation - some immediate sacrifices - could save species, habitats and even some human lives. “Unfortunately, given the scale and complexity of modern economies and the time required for new technologies...

How Russia Lost the Moon

Sergei Khrushchev October 4, 2007
Sputnik’s launch 50 years ago marks a watershed event in human innovation. The Soviets anticipated success; for them, Sputnik was another marker in their continuous progression past Western technology. However, a little more than a decade later, the Americans became the first to reach the moon. Soviet efforts in the space race, argues Khrushchev, ultimately failed because of jealousy within the...

Chinese Seek to Buy a US Maker of Disk Drives

John Markoff August 27, 2007
The US must confront and reconcile several realities: China has massive reserves of cash and actively pursues foreign investment; second, debt burdens the US government and its citizens, slowing their investment pace; and third, neither government trusts the other with sensitive industries. Reports that a Chinese firm has expressed interest in purchasing Seagate Technology, a US maker of disk...

Why Africa Fears Western Medicine

Harriet A. Washington August 14, 2007
Africa has a history of Western doctors who claim to provide health care while in reality “administrating deadly agents.” The most infamous example is Wouter Basson, who killed hundreds through injecting poisons, but was never convicted. More recently, a Libyan court convicted a foreign physician and five nurses of infecting children with AIDS, before releasing the providers to Bulgaria. Many...

China's Space Weapons

Ashley J. Tellis July 25, 2007
In early 2007, a Chinese ballistic missile slammed into an old weather satellite in space. The space test offered a reminder that the ability to destroy satellites is one method for countering US military superiority. US military strength stems from an ability to deliver accurate, strong firepower from great distances, impossible without intricate space satellites and ground installations that...

On Paper It Is Writ

Nayan Chanda July 25, 2007
The prosperity and growth that comes with emerging economies in Asia have caused discomfort in Europe and the US. “The anxiety gripping US workers is a replay of countless such episodes in the millennial-long drama of globalization,” writes Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online, for Outlook India. “The word globalization is of recent origin, but the process of growing interconnectedness built...