In The News

World's Mind Made Up on US Presidential Race

Bruce Stokes August 16, 2016
Managing global security in a tightly interconnected world requires global cooperation. Challenges like the spread of nuclear weapons, climate change or terrorism left unchecked in one place quickly become problems for the rest of the world. Global citizens anticipate US leadership. “Without a vote in the US presidential election, foreigners look on the American electoral process with a mixture...

Internet or Splinternet?

Joseph S. Nye August 11, 2016
The internet connects nearly half the world’s people, though political censorship and cybercrime could reduce public trust, explains Joseph Nye for Project Syndicate. He urges common rules to avoid fragmentation, based on a report from the Global Commission on Internet Governance. The report urges that openly developed standards, good user habits to discourage hackers, system design centered...

Asia Sentinel: Malaysia’s PM Sells His Country to China

Philip Bowring August 10, 2016
“The vulnerability of Southeast Asian countries to the combination of Chinese money and their own corrupt politicians has been laid starkly bare by a new report on Malaysia’s scandal ridden 1MDB,” reports Philip Bowring. International authorities are investigating Prime Minister Najib Razak for transferring 1MDB sovereign fund money into his personal accounts. The prime minister is accused of...

Putin and Erdogan Move to Restore Russia-Turkey Ties

Olesya Astakhova and Andrew Osborn August 10, 2016
Russian-Turkish relations hit a low point in November after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane that had strayed into its territory from Syria. Both countries are experiencing deteriorating ties with the West, and presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan, the latter who survived a failed military coup, have met to explore restoration of economic relations. “The meeting paves the way for a...

Brexit Could End Up Strengthening the European Union

Chris Miller August 9, 2016
The European Union may strengthen after voters in the United Kingdom elected to withdraw from the Union, and Chris Miller, associate director of Yale’s Grand Strategy Program, offers analysis as to why: Britain’s economic challenges could prompt hesitation among other members contemplating a similar move. The EU will drive a hard bargain, refusing to give in to unreasonable demands by voters who...

Will South Africa Split Apart?

David Adler August 8, 2016
Majority control by South Africa’s dominant political party is slipping in metropolitan areas. “The ANC has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, but it faces growing threats from the left, from the right, and from within the party itself,” explains David Adler for Foreign Affairs, as voters reject “economic stagnation, official corruption, and poor public services.” The hope is...

Through the Venezuelan Looking Glass

Ricardo Hausmann August 4, 2016
Despite history’s many warnings about leaders’ erratic behavior ending up in catastrophe, similar stories are unfolding today. Venezuela, despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, is suffering from severe shortages of basic supplies, a crisis that’s the consequence of increasingly absurd government policies, suggests Ricardo Hausmann, economist, Harvard professor and former minister of...