In The News

Want To Be The Next Amazon? Go Cross-Border From Day One

Hans Tung July 23, 2015
E-commerce is slowly shifting from a national to an international model. “Advances in logistics, shipping and global smartphone penetration have created a perfect storm where e-commerce companies can thrive internationally,” writes Hans Tung for Tech Crunch. He explains that consumers want to buy direct for the best prices; shipping companies have improved international service; and smartphones...

Money Trumps Fear: Reactions to Nuclear Accord With Iran

Jamsheed K. Choksy and Carol E.B. Choksy July 22, 2015
Iran has the world’ fourth-largest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves. Once sanctions are lifted, the population of 77 million will provide a large, eager market. The economy, with a strong manufacturing sector and educated workforce, is diversified, explain Jamsheed Choksy and Carol Choksy in the Conversation, and as a result, “potential economic gains are prevailing over military,...

Beijing’s Maritime Silk Road Passes Through Islamabad

Dilip Hiro July 21, 2015
Ties between China and Pakistan run strong and often aim at containing India. In recent decades, China helped Pakistan with its nuclear-weapons program and after 1991 became the country’s chief arms supplier. The relationship could signal that China’s One Belt, One Road project is as much about developing a strategic military network as trade and cultural exchange, suggests historian and author...

China’s Market Rout Is a Double Threat

Keith Bradsher and Chris Buckley July 10, 2015
China’s stock markets have bounced back, but the strong of losses may have dented investor confidence in the government’s ability to control those markets. The abrupt loss of Chinese shares’ value over the course of a few weeks, equal to six times Greece’s foreign debt, and a general downturn in the economy poses a threat to the global economy, report Keith Bradsher and Chris Buckley for the New...

Trouble Brews for “Imported” Beers Made in America

Jacob Gershman and Tripp Mickle July 9, 2015
Multinational companies took note that American consumers appreciated foreign autos manufactured in the United States. “Brewers like AB InBev shifted production of imports to the U.S. after foreign auto makers did the same in recent years without losing prestige or the ‘import’ label for brands like BMW and Mercedes,” notes a report in the Wall Street Journal, adding that sales of import beers...

Can Beijing Make AIIB Transparent?

Nayan Chanda July 2, 2015
The world will judge the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank by the rules being drafted. Asia needs infrastructure development, and China initiated the bank after global groups like the International Monetary Fund did not reform their structures in recognition of China’s growing contributions. The United States is not a founding member, but the AIIB curtailed criticisms on governance...

Can China Save Greece – And the EU?

Shannon Tiezzi July 1, 2015
China is the EU's second trading partner behind the US, and the EU is China's biggest trading partner. “The EU is committed to open trading relations with China. However, the EU wants to ensure that China trades fairly, respects intellectual property rights and meets its WTO obligations,” notes the European Commission. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended a China-EU summit in Brussels,...