In The News

Key US-EU Trade Pact Under Threat After More NSA Spying Allegations

Ian Traynor, Louise Osborne, Jamie Doward July 1, 2013
A new release of documents from Edward Snowden, a low level contract employee for the US National Security Agency, suggests that the US bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels, including one operation directed from NATO headquarters. Europe is stunned by the disclosure of intercepted phone calls and compromised fax machines of key officials, which if true, appear to have no...

Iran’s President-Elect May Offer New Opening

Mohammed Ayoob June 20, 2013
Iran’s voters rejected hardline conservatives in favor of Hassan Rouhani, a former chief nuclear negotiator who has served in the country’s National Security Agency, known for his conciliatory style. Mohammed Ayoob, professor and author, describes the president-elect as adept in foreign policy with the skills needed to ensure national security, control infighting and to engage with the rest of...

Analysis: Iran Moderate's Poll Triumph Is Mandate for Change

Marcus George June 17, 2013
Iranian voters selected moderate Hassan Rohani to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, thus urging a conciliatory tone in world affairs from their leaders. Iranians are “weary of years of economic isolation and tightening political restrictions,” writes Marcus George for Reuters. The election is described as appearing “free and fair,” although leading reformists were not permitted to run....

How Austerity Kills

David Stuckler, Sanjay Basu May 15, 2013
Suicide, long correlated with high unemployment rates, is on the rise in the wake of government austerity. “People looking for work are about twice as likely to end their lives as those who have jobs,” note David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu in an opinion essay for the New York Times. The two conducted research on health trends in countries enduring economic crisis and found that gradual, targeted...

Expanding Civil War: After Syria, Iraq?

Mohammed Ayoob May 7, 2013
Intervention and war are a way of life in the Middle East. With intervention fueling conflict, sectarian tensions reemerge and leaders restrict basic rights and freedoms and even resort to using force to restrain their own citizens. A recent example is the Iraqi government kicking out Arab television networks. Old behavior patterns are igniting unrest, civil war and new types of intervention,...

Water, Down The Drain

Nayan Chanda April 30, 2013
Subsidies can lead to excess and waste. India is an export leader in water-intensive crops like rice and cotton due to subsidy-driven overproduction, aiming to provide low-cost grain. “Huge subsidies and wastage of food grains belie record exports and reckless use of India’s precious water patrimony,” argues Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor, in his column for Businessworld. One study suggests...

China Targets Greenland for Mining

Will Hickey April 18, 2013
Tight profit margins in the mining industry – along with consolidation among large multinationals, huge capital investments, high-tech automation and rigid equipment maintenance contracts – have reduced job creation for nations with natural resources. Greenland, with 57,000 citizens, mostly indigenous, has vast deposits of minerals. A logical move would be for Greenlanders to rely on Danish...