In The News

John Vidal September 10, 2007
The notion of an automobile powered by fuel produced from plants appeals to any nation worried about dependence on foreign oil or declining oil reserves. A biofuel boom presents ostensibly environmentally-friendly implications, yet leads some analysts to predict a food crisis for the world’s most vulnerable populations. Plants for fuel will inevitably compete with food-plants, prompting rising...
September 6, 2007
Computer networks could become new battlegrounds for countries that don’t trust one another. Governments, businesses, universities, public utilities rely on computer systems for organization, information, research and trade. Advanced economies rely on the internet, and security specialists constantly look out for thefts, spy operations or disruptions. The UK, the US, Estonia, China, Germany have...
John Markoff August 27, 2007
The US must confront and reconcile several realities: China has massive reserves of cash and actively pursues foreign investment; second, debt burdens the US government and its citizens, slowing their investment pace; and third, neither government trusts the other with sensitive industries. Reports that a Chinese firm has expressed interest in purchasing Seagate Technology, a US maker of disk...
Ron Nixon August 6, 2007
Four years ago, the firm Terracom signed a contract with the Rwandan government to provide 300 schools with internet access. Rwandan officials had planned on equipping schools with the internet as a way to modernize the rural economy. But as of mid-July, only one third of the schools had been connected. That rate is better than that for Africa as a whole, with only 4 percent of the continent...
Ashley J. Tellis July 25, 2007
In early 2007, a Chinese ballistic missile slammed into an old weather satellite in space. The space test offered a reminder that the ability to destroy satellites is one method for countering US military superiority. US military strength stems from an ability to deliver accurate, strong firepower from great distances, impossible without intricate space satellites and ground installations that...
Nayan Chanda July 25, 2007
The prosperity and growth that comes with emerging economies in Asia have caused discomfort in Europe and the US. “The anxiety gripping US workers is a replay of countless such episodes in the millennial-long drama of globalization,” writes Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online, for Outlook India. “The word globalization is of recent origin, but the process of growing interconnectedness built...
William A. Wulf July 19, 2007
Innovation flourishes in settings that promote curiosity, respect and vision. Education, research, science, investment and good-government practices contribute to innovation. But societies must also introduce, apply and distribute the best ideas – and the infrastructure in the US that produced so much innovation during the 20th century is now broken, warns William Wulf, president of the National...