In The News

Trade Week Africa and the Continental Free Trade Area

Amy Copley December 7, 2016
Africa is not rejecting trade agreements. All 54 countries on the continent are projected to be in the Continental Free Trade Area, or CFTA, which “is shaping up to be the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the population it covers,” notes Amy Copley for the Brookings Institution. The African Union and UN groups continue negotiations, and analysts suggest that CFTA could increase...

The Problem with Abandoning the Paris Agreement

Robinson Meyer November 30, 2016
If the United States unilaterally withdraws from the Paris climate agreement, the nation can expect immediate diplomatic consequences. Foreign policy experts warn that such a move could create an opening for China to take leadership on climate-related issues and perhaps even profit from development of alternative energies. Observers cannot anticipate the Trump administration’s foreign policy, but...

Russia Wants to Remake Globalization in Its Own Image

Richard Weitz November 24, 2016
Globalization and global institutions are in crisis, confronting varying levels of mistrust around the world. The Valdai Discussion Club, a group of Russian and foreign international affairs experts, assessed the global order. “Russians described Western-led neoliberal globalization as universally destructive economically, culturally, and politically and responsible for sparking a worldwide...

China and the US Undercut International Law

Humphrey Hawksley November 17, 2016
Major powers tend to reject international law when rulings run counter to their interests insisting that the distant courts carry no jurisdiction. China rejected a Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling in July and clings to expansive claims in the South China Sea, including Scarborough Shoal near the Philippines. China’s response mirrored US rejection of a 1986 International Court of Justice...

UNICEF: 300 Million Children Breathe Toxic Air

November 4, 2016
Air pollution is an increasing danger for children’s health. One out of every seven children, 300 million in all, are exposed to toxic levels of outdoor air pollution, reports the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF. “The World Health Organization, WHO, says air pollution kills about seven million people a year, nearly 12 percent of all deaths worldwide,” reports the Environment News...

Top-Down, Bottom-Up Urban Design

Elizabeth Greenspan October 25, 2016
The United Nations Habitat III conference on urbanization in the developing world, the first in 20 years, convened in mid-October. Three sociologists – motivated to reshape the Athens Charter, a set of rigid guidelines crafted in 1943 to standardize urban design across the world – presented what they call the “Quito Papers,” a comprehensive guide and “more flexible way to design cities,” writes...

UN Secretary-General Must Manage Trilateral Divergences Over Globalization

Richard Weitz October 13, 2016
Portugal’s António Guterres, former head of the UN Refugee Agency, is officially the United Nations' secretary-general as of January 1, but the agreement “should not obscure the sharp differences among the Security Council’s leading members,” suggests Richard Weitz, director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at Hudson Institute. Weitz analyzes three speeches before the United...