In The News

Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus: China’s BRI Goals

John A. Mathews January 2, 2019
China’s Belt and Road global investment strategy is financing more than $1 trillion in infrastructure development in more than 70 nations. The initiative, global in scope, is a response to the US “pivot to Asia” announced under the Obama administration, “carefully and astutely crafted to take advantage of moves by the US as the current hegemon,” explains John A. Matthews for the Asia-Pacific...

Project Syndicate: Climate Safety and Engineers

Jeffrey D. Sachs January 1, 2019
Nations have developed a rulebook for implementing the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Ending reliance on fossil fuels will help stem climate change, improving the environment and health, yet more action is required, explains Jeffrey Sachs for Project Syndicate. “The diplomats have read the science and know the truth: without a rapid move to a zero-carbon global energy system by mid-century,...

Caixin: Casualties in China-US Trade War

David Mahon December 31, 2018
As the US-China trade war continues, small nations expected to take sides will suffer economic losses. Countries, struggling to avoid coercion, must assess their relationships and values. Some like New Zealand will turn to other excuses, suggests David Mahon in an opinion essay for Caixin, but the trade war is the impetus. He points out that for New Zealand and more than 40 other nations, China...

Salon: 5 Key Trends in Globalization

Edward Goldberg December 30, 2018
Old forms of globalization linked to fear and nationalism – as “angry minority based coalitions determined the fate of the majority” – have reemerged over the past year, explains Edward Goldberg. He offers a list of the top globalization events for 2018 for Salon, and for each the world can repeat history or learn from past events to avoid trouble: After 40 years of opening to the global economy...

OilPrice: The Solar Tech Flying Under the Radar

Haley Zaremba December 25, 2018
Renewable energies represent about 12 percent of energy consumption and 20 percent of electricity generation, reports the US Energy Information Administration. Solar energy along with wind and hydro power are ranked among the top sources of renewable energies. “Currently, one of the most promising innovations flying under the radar in the world of solar panels is concentrated photovoltaics,”...

Conversation: Design Cities to Counter Loneliness

Tanzil Shafique December 24, 2018
Residents in the world’s wealthiest countries, including cosmopolitan centers complain about loneliness. The condition has health consequences, especially for the elderly. Community infrastructure and architecture can encourage or discourage human interactions, and Tanzil Shafique suggests that “architects and planners, albeit unwittingly, are complicit in producing an urban landscape that...

Quartz: Human Translators and the Future of Work

Simone Stolzoff December 21, 2018
Automation threatens extinction of many jobs. Language translation as an occupation must contend with two trends, explains Simone Stolzoff for Quartz. “On one hand, the world is increasingly globalized,” he writes. “With technology that can spread across borders with the touch of a button, the need for people who can translate words and understand the nuance of different cultures has never been...