In The News

Russian President Putin Builds Ties in Moldova, Kazakhstan and Baltics

Michael Birnbaum May 19, 2014
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has vowed to defend ethnic Russians wherever they live – in a sense threatening governments of former Soviet republics and exerting Russian control. “Putin has spent recent weeks focused on neighboring countries, many of which have substantial ethnic Russian minorities,” writes Michael Birnbaum for the Washington Post. “The strategy puts Russia on a collision...

IT-Savvy Army Takes Modi’s Campaign to New Levels

Victor Mallet May 19, 2014
Candidates who gain the early support of young workers in the IT and finance industries can distribute their messages far and wide. High-tech projectors and satellite dishes allowed Narendra Modi, now India’s prime minister-designate, to address more than 100 simultaneous meetings each night. “The nationwide deployment of 10-foot high holograms of Mr Modi – requiring scores of shipping containers...

India’s Shinzo Abe

Brahma Chellaney May 16, 2014
Indian voters have handed a landslide victory to the Bharatiya Janata Party, ushering in Narendra Modi as prime minister. For the first time in 30 years, India will not need to hobble together a coalition government. Brahma Chellaney, of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, compares Modi to Japan’s Shinzo Abe: “Like Abe, Modi is expected to focus on reviving India’s economic fortunes...

China’s Push in the South China Sea Divides the Region

Murray Hiebert May 15, 2014
China has moved a huge oil exploration rig in disputed waters claimed by Vietnam. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations is divided over how to react, writes Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Nations quarrel over small groups of islands to control fishing and potential energy deposits. Despite pleas from members like Vietnam to recognize the...

Central Demands

Nayan Chanda May 8, 2014
Corruption and economic stagnation go hand in hand, and voters in India are hungry for change, suggests Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online. But big challenges – including a lack of jobs for the young, budget deficits, inflation and a regulatory morass – along with the need for coalition partners could delay change. “The formation of a new government may well alleviate some investor...

Yingluck’s Out. Now What, Thailand?

May 7, 2014
Polarization and a rural-urban divide are paralyzing Thai politics. A court removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, opening “a new and dangerous chapter in the implacable eight-year struggle between an amalgam of royalists, businessmen and the Bangkok elite, on one side, and the political empire headed by Yingluck’s brother, fugitive tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, on the other,” reports Asia...

Is Brazil Losing Global Momentum?

Alistair Burnett May 6, 2014
Brazil, the world’s seventh largest economy and sixth most populous nation, is host to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. The global focus highlights the nation's ongoing need to confront social challenges at home including deficits in infrastructure investment and development, suggests Alistair Burnett, editor of The World Tonight, a BBC News program. Some critics suggest that Brazil’s...