In The News

Nations Can Try Promotion – Not Protectionism

Anthony P. D’Costa February 4, 2013
Competition among national governments to promote their markets in the global economy is increasingly intense. Governments are expected to regulate markets to reduce instabilities. In their pursuit of growth, many governments are timid, failing to govern their economies – missing global challenges and opportunities while neglecting social protections. Anthony D’Costa, professor and research...

Growth Without Equity Roils South Africa

Haroon Bhorat, Morné Oosthuizen, Anne Kamau February 1, 2013
Labor unrest does not attract foreign investment. South Africa must subdue strikes in its mining industry before unrest spreads to other sectors while addressing the challenges of a high unemployment rate and dire poverty, argue researchers Haroon Bhorat, Morné Oosthuizen and Anne Kamau. South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of gold and platinum. The strikes are both reducing gold and...

Obama Looks Inward, America’s Allies Worry

Gideon Rachman January 30, 2013
Leading on foreign policy is an expensive endeavor for any nation. President Barack Obama in his second inaugural address signaled he will focus on improving US economic and social policies – with gun, immigration, tax and economic reforms and new focus on climate change. Nomination of Chuck Hagel, former Republican senator, as Secretary of Defense, suggests cost controls for the Pentagon,...

North Korea Tests China and the World

Shim Jae Hoon January 28, 2013
Foreign relations with isolated North Korea are in an unending winter – hints of a thaw repeatedly followed by hard freezes. The country’s young leader, Kim Jong Un, gave a speech, the first broadcast by a North Korean leader since 1994, suggesting that his country might be ready for dialogue with South Korea President-elect Park Geun Hye. Then, responding to UN Security Council Resolution 2087,...

China-Myanmar Pipeline to Open in May

Jamil Anderlini, Gwen Robinson January 28, 2013
A gas pipeline extending from the Indian Ocean through Myanmar to Southwest China is scheduled to begin pumping before summer. “At present, about 80 per cent of China’s crude oil imports are transported through the strategically important Strait of Malacca, but the new oil pipeline is expected to reduce China’s reliance on that route by about one-third,” report Jamil Anderlini and Gwen Robinson...

US and China Come Together Over Defiant North Korea

January 25, 2013
North Korea’s leaders have long sought international attention with threats of missile launches. Rather than ignore the errant behavior, China now sides with the United States. After meeting with Chinese officials, the US special representative for North Korea reported that “Both sides agreed that ‘a nuclear test would be troubling and a setback to the efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula...

US General Warns Over Iranian Cyber-Soldiers

January 24, 2013
Iran’s industries and infrastructure are under repeated cyber-attacks, and that in turn is prompting the country to step up its own computer security and offensive capabilities, warns General William Shelton, in charge of US cyber-operations. Iran’s enemies can anticipate becoming targets of cyber-attacks in years ahead, explains the article in BBC News. The US has about 6000 so-called cyber-...