In The News

China Courts the Middle East

Dilip Hiro January 30, 2012
The advantage is mutual: The Middle East has great reserves of oil, and China’s foreign-policy based on non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs is popular with the region’s authoritarian regimes. So China rejects Western efforts to impose sanctions to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Beijing is the largest buyer of Iranian petroleum, accounting for 20 percent of Iran’s exports,...

France Deals With Globalization Crisis – Part II

Alain Renaudin January 27, 2012
Citizens of wealthy nations blame globalization and competition from Asia for unemployment and other economic woes. This two-part YaleGlobal series analyzes the temptations of protectionism, particularly in France during its presidential election campaign. Promoting labels that identify a product’s country of origin is not a solution, argues Alain Renaudin in the second and final article, and the...

France Deals With Globalization Crisis – Part I

Pierre-Noel Giraud January 24, 2012
Multinational companies have shifted manufacturing operations and research and development from West to East, taking advantage of low wages and huge Asian markets poised for growth. On the global trade front, countries like France feel battered, and political leaders increasingly toy with protectionism. This YaleGlobal series offers ideas on how nations can optimize globalization’s benefits. In...

Global Implications of China’s Challenges – Part I

Thomas Fingar January 16, 2012
Challenges facing the most populous nation with its fast-growing economy could quickly become global problems. This two-part YaleGlobal series analyzes trends and challenges for China as well as the potential for cooperation. Integration with the global economy, an accomplishment for China since 1978, has the potential for triggering domestic disruptions, and “China may be uniquely vulnerable to...

Why a New York Cheese Buyer Hangs On the Euro's Fate

David Kestenbaum December 7, 2011
Steady currency exchange rates smooth the way for global trade. But the threat of default by Greece, Italy and other European nations has reduced the value of the euro and upset predictability in pricing. Reporting for National Public Radio, David Kestenbaum explains the effect of the euro crisis on a small cheese shop in New York City: “Through his cheese deals, Foster essentially trades in...

Chocolate-Fueled Growth

Kandeh K. Yumkella December 5, 2011
Poverty continues to linger in most Sub-Saharan countries, in large part due to the shortsighted nature of their export-based commodity economies. In an opinion essay for Project Syndicate, Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the UN Industrial Development Organization, suggests the time has come for these nations to upgrade their economies by focusing on ““value-added, agro-industrial...

Dance of the Giants

November 29, 2011
The US president’s whirlwind East Asia tour spotlighted the intensifying rivalry between the US and China. While the US spent the last decade preoccupied with radical Islam, China quietly went about furthering its strategic interests in Southeast Asia. The US now finds itself playing catch-up in the region, attempting to make up for lost time through actions such as placing troops in Australia,...