In The News

Beyond Hype and Pomp

Nayan Chanda October 22, 2015
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among many world leaders traveling to New York in September for the annual UN General Assembly meeting: “his principal mission was to sell India to US multinationals and tech titans, and to win the support of Indians overseas,” explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s founding editor in his column for Businessworld. India is a vast, young and developing market...

Nepal's Constitutional Crisis Involves Giant Neighbors

Harsh V. Pant October 15, 2015
Nepal is undergoing a transition, putting forth a constitution after a decade of conflict, political upheavals and protests along with a devastating earthquake from which it has yet to recover. But the constitution, described as discriminating against ethnic groups that account for almost half the population, could pose more challenges. The country of 28 million people is nestled between two...

Rise of Muslim Population Poses Challenge for India

Riaz Hassan October 8, 2015
If current demographic trends continue, the ranks of religious believers in the world could rise through 2050, reports a Pew Research Report. Islam would show the fastest rate of growth, and the unaffiliated would decline in proportion to other religious categories. Riaz Hassan, director of the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia,...

Time to Ban the Bans

Nayan Chanda October 7, 2015
Foreign investors are not rushing to invest in India. Monthly foreign direct investment equity inflows to India have fallen by half in recent months, from $4.4 billion to $2 billion. Modi has promised economic structural reforms but a culture war over religious differences could also contribute to investor reluctance: “arbitrary rule changes and whimsical bans now dominate the news and send the...

Carter Says Russian Airstrikes in Syria Didn't Target ISIS

Richard Sisk October 1, 2015
Efforts by major powers and advanced militaries to control extremism have faltered before – Russia in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the United States after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Americans and Russians alike resent high-cost interventions that result in horrific casualty counts and demonstrate little progress. Some critics would prefer that the international onlookers choose sides and pass out...

Pakistan Keen to Keep Ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia

Debalina Ghoshal October 1, 2015
Diplomacy in Asia is complicated by religious conflict and sets of regional rivalries including Iran and Saudi Arabia, along with Pakistan and India. A deal on Iran’s nuclear program negotiated by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, could test strategic relations in Asia and trigger a series of recalculations. In particular, strengthening Indian-Iranian ties could fray...

Time to Dump the Fear

Nayan Chanda September 25, 2015
Governments and business owners should contain alarm over devaluation of the Chinese renminbi and low-cost goods. “Such is the fear of China’s export juggernaut that the news of the yuan’s devaluation brings about a kneejerk reaction, not only in India but all over the world,” writes Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s founding editor and now consulting editor, in his column for Businessworld. “But not...