In The News

World Banker Assails Indonesia’s Corruption

Jane Perlez August 28, 2002
Of the “Asian tiger” nations, Indonesia has been the slowest to recover from the financial crisis of the 1990’s. Mark Baird, the World Bank’s chief representative in Indonesia, argues that this is in large part because of pervasive corruption present in the Indonesian government, which deters foreign firms from investing in the nation. While expressing his belief that it will take years before...

Chinese Communists Set for Policy Shift

James Kynge August 26, 2002
China plans to initiate several wealthy entrepreneurs into the central committee of the Communist Party on November 8. Because the Communist Party outranks all other governmental structures, its new members may be able to wield significant power. China’s president is spearheading the move; he believes, “The party should represent advanced productive forces, advanced culture and the broad...

Boeing, Airbus Competition Puts Pakistan in a Fix

Masood Anwar August 22, 2002
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) must decide on more than which airplane to buy; it must also find a way to appease the country which produces that airplane. In an effort to help the ailing airline industry, the U.S. and France are using diplomatic power to force PIA to make a decision in favor of either Boeing (U.S.) or Airbus (France). For the moment, PIA has yet to make a final decision,...

Latin America Turns Left

Richard Lapper July 28, 2002
As privatization, currency devaluation, and tight fiscal spending fail to solve Latin America’s economic woes, analysts see a leftward shift in the region’s politics. Leaders of well-known protests have cashed in their publicity for new political capital, as witnessed in recent elections. And long dead populist movements have been resurrected by the current frustration with free-market economics...

America Aloof

July 12, 2002
Since the fall of the Soviet Union as a counter superpower, the United States has found itself in the singular position of global super power – which has also come with its own contradictions. This op-ed article from the New York Times argues that while the Bush administration has been good at working with Russia on global terrorism, for example, it has not been as good when it comes to dealing...

U.S. Independence Day

July 4, 2002
A recent series of developments – from the US rejection of the Kyoto Protocol to the imposition of tariffs on steel imports to opposition to the International Criminal Court – has been raising questions about American leadership in a globalized world. An editorial in the Jakarta Post notes “Perhaps it is in the nature of a sole superpower to act unilaterally on major global issues without wasting...

How to Rig a Democracy

Susan Sachs June 30, 2002
President Bush's ultimatum to Palestinian leadership that it must democratize raises an interesting quesion: “What if the United States were as serious about saving the Arabs from corrupt autocrats and radical Islam as it once was about saving the world from communism?” If the US were to employ all of its Cold War methods, it could make inroads in bringing democracy to the region. However...