In The News

French Warships in Doldrums

Andreas Kuersten January 1, 2015
France signed a contract with Russia in 2011 to build and deliver two warships. Since then, Russia wrested control of Crimea and intervened in Eastern Ukraine. France dearly wanted to complete the deal, but faces intense scrutiny for supplying military hardware and technology to Russia while criticizing actions in Ukraine. “France’s lingering plan to deliver military hardware to Russia while...

Europe’s Cheap Borrowing Costs Lure Corporate Fundraising

Sally Bakewell and Cordell Eddings December 30, 2014
Borrowing costs in Europe have fallen against dollar rates, to near half in some cases, and Bloomberg anticipates US firms to issue more bonds in euros. “Apple Inc. (AAPL), Verizon Communications Inc. and Albemarle Corp. led 68 billion euros ($83 billion) of bond issuance by American borrowers this year, the busiest since 2007 and 45 percent higher than 2013, according to data compiled by...

Russian Demographics: The Perfect Storm

Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin December 11, 2014
One measure of an economically secure homeland is women’s willingness to raise children with the expectation of opportunities for good health, education and livelihoods. On that front, Russia confronts a perfect storm – as fertility rates plummeted to 1.2 births per women in the late 1990s and now stand at 1.7 births per women. “Russia’s population will most likely decline in the coming decades,...

The Lost Children: France Takes Stock of Growing Jihadist Problem

Julia Amalia Heyer November 19, 2014
In regulating immigration, policy planners anticipate newcomers to assimilate, especially over generations. Most do, but children of immigrant families long settled in France are often intrigued by jihad. Julia Amalia Heyer profiles a French family – the mother atheist and the father Muslim – whose 17-year-old daughter traveled to Antakya on the Turkish-Syrian border and then called home to...

Gorbachev Is Wrong About a New Cold War

Philip Stevens November 14, 2014
NATO monitors have reported Russian troops and equipment crossing into eastern Ukraine, and the West urges both sides to abide by ceasefire terms in place since September. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned of a new Cold War – “For the author of glasnost… things went wrong when the US and Europe invited formerly communist states into NATO and thus humiliated Russia during its...

WWII Celebration Plans by Putin and Xi to Score Points

Stein Tønnesson November 13, 2014
The end of World War II was met with relief and massive infrastructure investment, and some one-time enemies even became close allies. Celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the war’s end may revive old animosities. Presidents of Russia and China are organizing a joint commemoration, and the early planning includes harsh rhetoric. Both countries have agendas. At a time when the West and Japanese...

A First: Spacecraft Lands on Speeding Comet

Marcus Woo November 12, 2014
The world is cheering a huge milestone in space exploration. The European Space Agency has landed the Philae probe with its tiny chemistry lab on a comet – 483 million kilometers away, hurtling 64,000 kilometers per hour. “For the last couple months, Rosetta has been studying the comet, surveying its surface and measuring the dust particles and gases around it,” reports Marcus Woo for Wired,...