In The News

Iran’s Global Ambitions – Part I

Jamsheed K. Choksy September 13, 2010
Iran has pursued global influence while the US busied itself with war east and west of the nation. This YaleGlobal series suggests that, in a global game of chess, Iran is no pawn. As major powers impose sanctions for violation of its non-proliferation commitment, Iranian leaders cultivate ties with developing nations, explains Jamsheed Choksy in the first of three articles. Messages drawing on...

Changing Paradigms

Nayan Chanda September 13, 2010
Enduring a mortgage crisis followed by global recession and an ongoing credit crunch, Western nations extended emergency funding to major banks and also tightened regulations to prevent future crises. Now those same banks are expanding, even relocating operations to Asia’s substantial markets, offering rapid growth and business development. “The fact that one of America’s largest banks and one...

Petraeus Condemns US Church's Plan to Burn Korans

Julian E. Barnes, Matthew Rosenberg September 7, 2010
If one needed an example of the world’s interconnectedness and the internet’s ability to empower individuals, the story of a tiny church in Florida will do. The church’s plans to burn Korans on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks captured the world’s attention and, most surprisingly, that of the US commander of international forces in Afghanistan. US military leaders typically refrain...

A Cash-Strapped US Faces Diminished Political Clout

Michael Mandelbaum August 31, 2010
The US continues to confront record budget deficits, high unemployment rates, stagnant revenues and global recession – with no clear end in sight. Individual citizens, worried about rising taxes and health-care costs as well as cuts to traditional programs for the elderly, want to cut spending. Naturally, such a bleak economic outlook results in reduced US expenditures on foreign products or...

New Dissent in Japan Is Loudly Anti-Foreign

Martin Fackler August 31, 2010
As Japan’s economy stagnates, young men stuck in menial jobs use the internet to plan demonstrations against foreign influences. Their “main purpose seems to be venting frustration, both about Japan’s diminished stature and in their own personal economic difficulties,” explains Martin Fackler for the New York Times. The discontents resent rising unemployment and lack of global respect for Japan...

Intelligence Loopholes

Nayan Chanda August 30, 2010
Confidential messages have served as a basis for long-distance trades for thousands of years. Long ago a list of contents was baked into clay tablets that accompanied shipments. Upon arrival, the tablets were cracked open to assure complete delivery. The modern BlackBerry phone, with countless more messages over longer distances, also provides confidentiality. As secure phones become more popular...

Manhattan Project: The Great Mosque Divide

Sadanand Dhume August 24, 2010
A proposal to build an Islamic center two blocks away from the target of the 9/11 attacks steadily moved through New York City’s planning process, meeting regulations and winning approval each step of the way. The World Trade Center attacks united the United States for a short while, whereas almost nine years later, the center and plan to “build bridges” raise another in a long line of issues...