In The News

Globalization and the Corrupt States

Branko Milanovic November 2, 2007
Corrupt states thrive on producing goods and services that are illegal but increasingly profitable in the global world. Due to low costs of transportation, more illegal goods enter middle-class markets. Once criminal groups start controlling an economy, they throw their support behind corrupt politicians in government, complicating the work of local activists or international organizations that...

When I'm 64

Hans Ulrich Maerki November 1, 2007
Europe's population is rapidly aging - the proportion of people over age 65 will increase by 50 percent over the next two decades - posing challenges to private and public pension systems as well as presenting a shortage of skilled workers. Hans Ulrich Maerki of IBM in Europe suggests that older people remain in the workforce longer, endorsing government social-welfare programs that target...

Bhutto’s Return Brings Pakistani Politics to a Boil

Carlotta Gall October 31, 2007
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, ready to run for office, force General Pervez Musharraf to share power and combat terrorism. Crowds of passionate supporters greeted her when she arrived in mid-October, along with a bomb blast that killed 140 people. Confusion and questions have emerged since her return to a country divided about its relationship with the US. Opponents...

Amber Light From the Party

Pierre F. Landry October 29, 2007
Transfer of power in Chinese politics is both undemocratic and uncertain. The Chinese Communist Party's highest leading body is the National Congress, which meets every five years to set policy and choose new leadership. But most decisions are finalized in secretive negotiations well before the meeting. The leadership lineup that emerged with the 17th Congress is not one of "monolithic...

Beware, Constitutions Can Change Your Life

Philip Johnston October 23, 2007
Constitutions are not boring documents. Instead, they outline rights for citizens, directing leaders and giving continuity to problem solving. A constitution "defines our liberties and the relationship between people and the state, the governed and the government," writes Philip Johnston for the Telegraph, in an essay that addresses concerns about such a document for the EU. Membership...

Old Gripe Brings Turkey Face to Face With Iraq

Dilip Hiro October 22, 2007
After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, world powers carved up the Middle East. The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres would have partitioned Turkey and created an autonomous Kurdistan, but Turkish nationalists rejected that plan. The Treaty of Lausanne that followed in 1923 granted independence to Turkey, but not for Kurdistan – and ethnic Kurds instead are spread among Turkey, Iraq, Iran and...

Bad Neighbor

October 22, 2007
International criticism of the Myanmar military junta for violent repression of recent protests includes US and EU sanctions and a UN Security Council condemnation. But the junta shows no signs of ending its brutal and rigid control. Neighboring states like China, India and the member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are the largest economic partners of Burma, renamed...