In The News

Timor-Leste: Lessons of a Failing State?

Loro Horta May 22, 2014
Timor-Leste shares the island of Timor and a bloody history with Indonesia. The former Portuguese colony was part of Indonesia from 1976 until 2002, when it was declared an independent state. The country’s small population is less than half of 1 percent of that in neighboring Indonesia, and one quarter died in fighting for independence. Despite great natural resources, the country has since...

Deforestation: Carving Up the Amazon

Barbara Fraser May 22, 2014
Roads allow human access to remote lands but often result in habitat destruction. Networks of roads in the Amazon and the rapid deforestation add to jobs and economic growth with agriculture development, as well as ranching, mining and land speculation, explains Barbara Fraser for Nature. “So far, most [roads] have encroached on forest around the edges of the basin, but they are increasingly...

A Black Mark in the Waiting

Nayan Chanda May 21, 2014
Coal provides about a third of the globe’s primary energy needs, according to the World Coal Association, and India ranks third in coal production and consumption, after China and the United States. China produced six times as much coal than India in 2012, but is acting to reduce its reliance and develop alternatives. “It is ironic that while global public discussion is increasingly about ways to...

Russian President Putin Builds Ties in Moldova, Kazakhstan and Baltics

Michael Birnbaum May 19, 2014
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has vowed to defend ethnic Russians wherever they live – in a sense threatening governments of former Soviet republics and exerting Russian control. “Putin has spent recent weeks focused on neighboring countries, many of which have substantial ethnic Russian minorities,” writes Michael Birnbaum for the Washington Post. “The strategy puts Russia on a collision...

Talk of an Internet Fast Lane Is Already Hurting Some Startups

David Talbot May 16, 2014
Studies of internet and computer use suggest that full potential is far from realized. The US Federal Communications Commission is proposing rules that “would allow ISPs to charge content providers like Netflix to ensure speedy service, so long as those charges are ‘commercially reasonable,’” reports David Talbot for MIT Technology Review. “History shows that some Web-based products and services...

Restrained by Economic Mesh

Nayan Chanda May 12, 2014
Many international observers had hoped that an era of territorial annexation ended in 1991 when the Gulf War forced Iraq to backtrack on Kuwait. But a decade later, Russia quickly disrupted and invaded Crimea and China installed an oil drilling rig in disputed waters close to Vietnam. “The muted response to Russia and China's aggressive actions seem to underscore that in an increasingly...

Renminbi Undervalued? Think Again

Farok J. Contractor May 8, 2014
The Chinese currency may be under-valued, but not by much. The renminbi has appreciated by 35 percent since 2005 amid persistent inflation in China’s manufacturing sector, and further appreciation is unlikely, reports Farok J. Contractor, management professor. The semi-annual US Treasury report describes the currency as “significantly undervalued,” but does not declare China a “currency...