In The News

China Turns on Charm Offensive for Bhutan

Bertil Lintiner September 22, 2016
Bhutan is nestled among the Himalayas and between Asia’s two giant powers – India to the south and China to the north. The small kingdom, a country of 750,000, has long had ties with India. So India watches closely as China steps up attempts to settle longstanding border differences and strengthen ties with Bhutanese leaders including Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji who visited Beijing in August....

Globalization Goes National

Tyler Cowen September 16, 2016
Global trade is slowing and a contributing factor could be that large and geographically fragmented nations focus on internal economic integration, as explained by Tyler Cowen for Bloomberg: “many nations lack integrated economic relations within their borders, and thus they could reap high gains from trade by opening up internally.” Improved communications via the internet strengthen internal...

Question Mark Over TPP

Nayan Chanda September 14, 2016
The outlook for the Tans-Pacific Partnership appears bleak with only a few months remaining for the Obama administration. Trade has been vilified in the US presidential campaign. “Given the lofty rhetoric and expectations surrounding the 12-nation trade pact, its increasingly perilous path to fruition is already causing damage to US standing in Asia and opening the door further for China’s...

Despite Fears, Mexico's Manufacturing Boom Lifts US Workers

Natalie Kitroeff September 2, 2016
Automation is transforming manufacturing, reducing jobs and need for skills. A Los Angeles Time article describes apprenticeships for young Mexicans working alongside robots in a BMW plant in Mexico. US presidential candidates question the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but many companies – including those from outside the US – are shifting operations from China to Mexico....

Despite Chinese Shadows, Southeast Asian Friendship With US Worth Cultivating

Satu Limaye September 1, 2016
The United States and China are among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' dialogue partners. Under President Barack Obama, the United States has forged closer ties with the regional group that will endure, explains Satu Limaye, director of the East-West Center in Washington and the Asia Matters for America initiative. The ASEAN summit in Vientiane, Laos, will be Obama’s last as US...

Two Faces of Global Trade

Nayan Chanda August 30, 2016
A steel glut in China – due to stimulus funding and weak economic recovery since 2007 – has led to a trade war. China controls half the world’s steel production, and the United States, Europe and others have responded with new duties on steel imports. “Cut-price steel causing unemployment has emerged as a lightning rod for discontent about globalization,” explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal...

Scramble in the Horn

James Jeffrey August 24, 2016
Landlocked Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country with more than 96 million people. Conflict lingers between Ethiopia and Eritrea since the latter obtained independence in 1993. “The fighting that broke out at the Ethiopia-Eritrea border on 12 June, reportedly involving artillery and tanks, resulting in hundreds killed and wounded, has highlighted how old-fashioned power politics has...