In The News

Stratfor: Security Implications of Brexit

Julian Lindley-French April 11, 2018
Much of the concern and discussions on Brexit centers around politics and trade, but security is another priority, maintains Julian Lindley-French. European security depends on close cooperation, especially on intelligence-gathering. “Britain's security, and by extension that of Europe, will be profoundly weakened if the former is not also fully plugged into the latter,” Lindley-French...

East Asia Foundation: FDI Outflow Surge From South Korea

Namsuk Choi April 11, 2018
Foreign direct investment outflows from South Korea are surging, increasing by more than 30 percent annually since 2010. Such levels can signal economic growth, but can also warn about rising wages, tax rates and regulations that erode a country’s manufacturing base and eliminate jobs, explains Namsuk Choi for East Asia Foundation. “The Moon Jae-in administration’s economic policies have had...

Wall Street Journal: Myanmar Court Holds Journalists Investigating Rohingya

Jon Emont April 11, 2018
Government leaders who engage in shameful behavior strive to limit press freedoms. A Myanmar court is holding two Reuter journalists for reporting on the Rohingya crisis. The minority Muslim group has no citizen rights in the Buddhist nation and the military burned villages and forced as many as 700,000 people to relocate to Bangladesh. “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been investigating alleged...

Politico: How Trump Could Lose a Trade War With China

Doug Palmer April 10, 2018
After demanding concessions from allies by imposing steel and aluminum tariffs in March, US President Donald Trump has instigated a trade war with China without a strong global coalition for support. Analysts suggest that China, an authoritarian regime lacking in democratic or free market oversight, can move more nimbly and undergo less political backlash on the home front if a full-blown trade...

Spiegel: EU Mulls Funding Cuts for Eastern Europe

Markus Becker, Peter Müller, Christoph Schult and Jan Puhl April 10, 2018
Europe’s largest and most powerful economies maintain that values embracing human rights and the rule of law have enhanced European prosperity. So it’s understandable that the Germany, France and others do not want to subsidize Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and other states that skirt the rule of law, refuse to support refugees and engage in corruption enriching a few individuals in power rather than...

BBC News: Chemical Attack in Syria

April 9, 2018
More than 40 Syrians including children were reported dead after a chemical weapons attack in Douma, a town once held by Syrian rebels. International investigators cannot enter the area besieged by war. Syria’s brutal regime, supported by Russia, has focused attacks on areas once held by rebels where evacuations of fighters and family members are underway, reports BBC News. Russia offers no...

ScienceDaily: Agricultural Production vs. Biodiversity

April 9, 2018
Increased land use by the agriculture industry reduces wildlife and biodiversity. A team of German researchers based at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research relied on global datasets quantifying the needs of major crops with geographical distribution of animals and their other requirements, and “found that 88 percent of the biodiversity that is expected to be lost under future agricultural...