In The News

Danger to Cities by the Sea

Aditi Sen January 28, 2014
Asia’s coastal megacities are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, in particular the risk of coastal flooding. What makes cities like Jakarta, Manila or Bangkok so vulnerable is that they are heavily populated and among the least prepared, suggests Aditi Sen of Verified Carbon Standard. The organization aims to reduce greenhouse emissions and encourage quality assurance...

What AAP Should Know

Nayan Chanda January 27, 2014
Recently the Delhi law minister from the newly elected Aam Aadmi (Common People) Party led a mob to harass African women suspected of illegal activity. In the process he and his supporters uttered racist words. Video clips from a decade ago also show another leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, poet Kumar Vishwas, making racist remarks. Such racism is foolish and ignores the ancestry of Indians as of...

Of Aam Aadmi Party and the Aam Aadmi

Nayan Chanda January 24, 2014
In India, the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, has shaken the establishment. A successful appeal to many can rely on promises of quick fixes and protection of special interests. “While AAP has plenty of positive attributes and is doing important work in terms of promoting transparency and accountability, not everything it stands for is necessarily in the country’s long-term economic...

Fears for Bangladeshi Democracy Rumble Across Region

Victor Mallet January 16, 2014
Some Asian democracies are not handling polarization well and fail to contain extreme responses by political parties after election or policy defeats. In Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Thailand, “parliamentary democracies have fallen prey to the diseases of authoritarianism, violence and strident populism,” reports Victor Mallet for the Financial Times. Amid the political problems for the...

The Plight of the Globe’s Domestic Workers

Susan Froetschel January 15, 2014
Domestic workers and diplomats may be but pawns for nations struggling with their own internal quarrels and place in the world. The arrest of an Indian consulate officer in New York City for filing false information on a nanny’s wages triggered outrage in India. The immediate official reaction was that Devyani Khobragade has immunity from arrest including a standard body search and that the crime...

Compete in the World? Yes, Indians Can

Kishore Mahbubani January 14, 2014
Indians rank first for economic performance in terms of the income earned by ethnic groups in the United States. “America welcomes immigrants from all over the globe, offering a level playing field, and encourages them to test themselves against world-class competition,” writes Kishore Mahbubani, author and dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS. If India could achieve half of the...

Costly Reprieve

Nayan Chanda January 8, 2014
To secure an agreement at the Bali ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, developing nations gave in to India and other developing nations and will allow ongoing food subsidies for the time being. The WTO hopes to reach a permanent solution by 2017. Subsidies distort markets and cripple competition; they aid political leaders for only a short while and are difficult to end. The WTO...