In The News

Crackdown in Turkey Threatens a Haven of Gender Equality Built by the Kurds

Rod Nordland December 26, 2016
Gender equality, an elusive goal for most nations, is commonly enjoyed in Kurdish towns in Turkey. Women serve alongside men in Kurdish guerrilla units, and governmental decisions concerning women are made by a panel composed solely of women. The gender equality espoused by the Kurds and the pro-Kurdish HDP party have had an impact across the country, even in religious Muslim areas of western...

China May Penalize US Automaker Over Price-Fixing

John Ruwitch and Jake Spring December 20, 2016
A Chinese state-run newspaper has reported that a US car company has been setting artificially high prices in the Middle Kingdom since 2014. News of a potential Chinese crackdown on this monopolistic scheme caused shares of both Ford and GM to drop. China is critical to both businesses – with the largest vehicle market in the world that constituted over 15 percent of their net incomes last year....

Russia Pivots to Asia

Taehwa Hong December 20, 2016
US President Barack Obama has emphasized that Russia is a weaker country than the United States. US military spending is 12 times more than Russia’s, and the Russian economy, under sanction for interventions in Ukraine, has been crowded out of the top 10 economies in recent years. Still, Russia confounds rivals and neighbors by regarding the globe as a chessboard, weighing priorities, using...

Turkey’s Effort to Join the EU Is on Life Support

December 19, 2016
In the aftermath of a bloody failed coup in Turkey – including arrests of political opponents and journalists – European leaders are assessing Turkey’s bid to join the EU. They admit that the crackdown in Turkey goes against European principles, particularly as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan adopts increasingly hostile language toward Europe. Talks have been flailing for years, especially since...

Taiwan: More Than a Trump Card for US Dealing With Beijing

Wenran Jiang December 15, 2016
President-elect Donald Trump is poised to disrupt longstanding US policy towards China, and the policy approach seems deliberate, argues Wenran Jiang, political science professor at the University of Alberta and global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. Jiang points to a congratulatory phone call made by Taiwan’s president, facilitated by a paid lobbyist, and Trump’s...

What America Needs to Know About Trump and Russia

Evelyn Farkas December 13, 2016
In the United States, the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security and director of National Intelligence have concluded that Russia hacked email accounts, selectively releasing messages, to help Donald Trump win the presidency. “The American public doesn't have access to the data the intelligence community – all 16 agencies combined –have on the Russian government, its banks and oligarchs,...

Beijing Says Friendly Sino-US Ties Rely on One-China Policy

Kristin Huang, Liu Zhen and Teddy Ng December 12, 2016
The US president-elect suggested that US regard for the one-China position, in place for more than four decades, could be a bargaining chip to pursue concessions on trade. Beijing officials offered a stern response, noting that such a stance would damage US-Chinese relations. The comment and a congratulatory telephone call from the Taiwanese president have increased tensions, strangling Taiwan’s...