In The News

Flattening World Challenges Imagination

April 13, 2007
Thomas L. Friedman, foreign-affairs columnist of “The New York Times,” whose “The World Is Flat” has become an international bestseller, says the process of flattening is intensifying. With multiplying distributive tools of innovation and collaboration, whatever can be done will be done, Friedman explains in this interview with YaleGlobal Editor Nayan Chanda on March 30, 2007. The question is who...

China and the US: To Hedge or Engage

David Shambaugh April 11, 2007
Despite extensive cooperation between China and the US, both countries remain suspicious of each other’s intent. The result has been, from the US side, a policy of hedging all the while engaging with China. This arms-length approach may not be good for either country’s interest or the interest of stability in Asia. David Shambaugh and Karl Inderfurth, China and South Asia analysts, respectively,...

Accord Key to Sustainable Economic Development

Lee Jun-kyu April 11, 2007
The US and South Korea have finalized negotiations on a free-trade agreement, which must be ratified by legislatures in both nations. Meanwhile, opponents in both countries organize, complaining that free trade could disrupt the economies of either nation, increasing income gaps or competition for specific sectors. Opponents in South Korea in particular fear that their nation could become a mere...

Multinationals: Globalization's Offspring

April 10, 2007
Scrappy new multinational firms are emerging all over the world: Hindalco and Tata from India, Lenovo and PetroChina from China. “Just as Toyota and Samsung eventually obliged western multinationals to rethink how to make cars and consumer electronics, so today's young thrusters threaten the veterans wherever they are complacent,” notes this article in “The Economist.” The new firms are...

US-Korea Trade Deal Still Faces Hurdles

Evan Ramstad April 9, 2007
Politicians won legislative office in both the US and South Korea by vehemently opposing trade. Negotiators for the two nations have ironed out a complex trade agreement, but lobbyists representing agriculture, automobile or electronics interests could balk at details such as South Korea excluding US rice exports or the US delaying any decision to purchase Korean products made at an industrial...

How Serious a Challenge?

Robert O. Freedman April 5, 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long hoped to restore prestige for Russia at levels once enjoyed by the Soviet Union. But a weak economy, the Beslan school massacre and Ukraine’s “October Revolution” have weakened Russia’s stance, even among former Soviet republics. As a result, Putin has sought out a new arena for projecting power: the Middle East. America’s interminable conflicts in the...

As Globalization’s Benefits Grow, So Do Its Skeptics

David Wessel April 3, 2007
Global trade is suspect among some in the West because of globalization’s implied dichotomy of winners and losers. Fearing displacement of North American jobs, many US workers have little faith that globalization delivers wide-scale benefits. Citizens rally around globalization efforts more readily when combined with simultaneous investments in improving foreign relations, argues journalist David...