In The News

China and Google: Searching for Trouble – Part II

Jeffrey Garten January 21, 2010
The China-Google tussle is about two visions of the future, according to international trade and finance professor Jeffrey Garten. It is about openness and globalization vs. stability and nationalism. For China, the desire is to continue to lift millions of its citizens out of poverty; if such a goal entails national stability, requiring control of the internet, so be it. To Westerners, who...

China and Google: Searching For Trouble – Part I

Jonathan Fenby January 19, 2010
Google’s recent dispute with China is not just about internet censorship; it’s also about China’s evolving role on the world stage, according to journalist and author Jonathan Fenby. It is unlikely Beijing will allow citizens to access banned Internet sites through Google – a condition the company demanded for staying in China. There are also concerns about Internet security in general, but the...

Kenya Fishermen See Upside To Pirates: More Fish

Jason Straziuso January 13, 2010
In a weird twist of fate, Somali pirates have helped Kenya’s fishing improve. The threat posed by these pirates in the western Indian Ocean has discouraged foreign vessels from fishing in the region. This sudden drop in fishing has allowed fish stocks to replenish – especially varieties that had all but disappeared such as red snapper and barracuda – providing Kenyan fisherman with better catches...

Google Threat Jolts Chinese Internet Industry

Loretta Chao, Aaron Back January 13, 2010
Google’s decision to start offering uncensored searches in China at the risk of being barred from the country is likely to have broad repercussions. Google announced its decision as a result of cyber attacks, some of which sought to compromise Google’s Gmail accounts of human rights activists. Politically, the move could add further tension to the US-China relationship, as the attacks were...

Deported Uighurs Highlight China’s Ties to Cambodia

Brendan Brady January 11, 2010
China’s use of its economic power to foster investment or effect policy has acquired a new dimension with the repatriation of Uighur asylum seekers in Cambodia. As a signatory to the 1951 international Refugee Convention, Cambodia is obligated not to return refugees that may face persecution. But its role in the repatriation to China of 20 Uighurs, who may face prosecution for their alleged...

Terrorism’s New Avatars – Part I

Bruce Riedel January 7, 2010
The foiled bombing of Northwest flight 253 brings to light the global nature of terrorist expansion. Many would have thought it unlikely that ill-governed and little-considered Yemen would be the source of an attack on the United States. But as regional expert Bruce Riedel relates, Yemen has long been a chaotic country governed weakly or by outsiders – a perfect breeding ground for terrorist...

Fallout from Copenhagen: Has the EU Lost Its Global Relevance?

Jean-Pierre Lehmann January 5, 2010
The first decade of the 21st century is still garnering many monikers. But Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann believes that it may soon be considered Europe’s swan song as a global power. From a storied constitution to lack of a consistent trade policy to a failure to effect global policy on climate change, the EU demonstrated throughout the decade that it cannot act in a coherent fashion and that its...