In The News

Can ASEAN Respond to the Chinese Challenge?

Carlyle A. Thayer March 18, 2014
China has twice as much territory and population than the combined 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – not to mention three times the GDP and four times the military spending. China increasingly pushes its weight in the region, most recently by criticizing Malaysian leadership in the search for missing flight MH307. Control of the South China Sea is another area of...

Ukraine: Goodbye Cold War, Hello Globalized Economy

Remi Piet March 18, 2014
As Russia tries to claim Crimea from Ukraine and influence politics of neighboring states, other countries are uncertain about how to proceed – and just how effective economic sanctions might be. Russia is a leading producer of oil and natural gas, but is also over-reliant on those revenues. Another unknown for Russia and supporters is just how long global markets will tolerate endorsement of...

Fig Leaf of Legitimacy

Nayan Chanda March 17, 2014
About 60 percent of the electorate turned out in Crimea for a special referendum; reports suggest that 95 percent voted to join Russia. Next, Russia will decide whether to annex the peninsula it passed to Ukraine in 1954. Most of the international community opposed the hurried election, especially after Russia dispatched troops and tanks to the area. “Among the undecided but leaning towards...

Putin’s Dangerous Game

Strobe Talbott March 11, 2014
Displeased by the removal of its ally in Ukraine, and contending a need to protect ethnic Russians wherever they live, Russia has dispatched troops to the neighboring state. The next step is redrawing Ukrainian borders by annexing Crimea under the guise of a hastily arranged election limited to the peninsula. The international community is unlikely to respond with military force, but could...

Ten Nations Scour Sea for Malaysia Jet Lost in “Unprecedented Mystery”

Eveline Danubrata and Nguyen Phuong Linh March 10, 2014
A Malaysian airliner disappeared during a flight to Beijing, prompting a massive air and sea search operation over the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand. “Dozens of ships and aircraft from 10 countries scoured the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam as questions mounted over possible security lapses and whether a bomb or hijacking attempt could have brought down the Boeing 777-200ER...

The New Ukraine: Inside Kiev's House of Cards

Christian Neef, Wladimir Pyljow and Matthias Schepp March 6, 2014
Ukraine is ranked 144th on Transparency International’s corruption index; by comparison, neighbors Russia and Poland are ranked 127 and 38, respectively. Business owners with close ties to the former president, described as oligarchs, have fortunes worth billions even as the country owes billions in debt, much of that to Russia. Many of the wealthy have fled to Russia and tried to destroy...

Venezuela Unrest Shakes Up Opposition

Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore February 28, 2014
Protesters and opposition candidates blast Venezuela for problems listed by the US Central Intelligence Agency: “a weakening of democratic institutions, political polarization, a politicized military, rampant violent crime, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.” Reuters...