In The News

A Europe of Merkel and Fillon?

Camille Pecastaing December 6, 2016
François Fillon and Angela Merkel lead in the polls to become the respective leaders of France and Germany. Both cater to the center-right and embrace free-trade, the EU and globalization. Their similar platforms as well as past tenure together could shore up “the French-German dynamic [that] has been so central to the construction of Europe since the 1950s,” writes Camille Pecastaing for Foreign...

Taiwan, Thorn in China’s Side, Gets New Attention

Mark Harrison December 6, 2016
Disagreements set aside for too long can calcify, and Taiwan is such an example. The fact that a phone call between US President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen kicked up a storm highlights how frozen the differences have become. Mark Harrison, who lectures in Chinese Studies at the University of Tasmania, provides background on the relationship between Taiwan and China...

How Important Is NASA's Earth Science Program That Trump Wants to Abolish?

Brenda Ekwurzel December 5, 2016
US President-elect Donald Trump campaigned to reduce debt and the size of US government and also dismissed concerns about climate change. Analysts anticipate he will eliminate NASA climate programs including the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite, GRACE, and funding for university earth science research. Such programs are multi-functional and ultimately apply science for the...

Italy Sinks Into Political Limbo as Defeat Sweeps Renzi Away

John Follain and Chiara Albanese December 5, 2016
Italy is Europe’s fourth largest economy and the country is falling “into political limbo after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation, with rival parties jockeying to fill the power vacuum following his crushing defeat in a constitutional referendum,” reports Bloomberg. The constitutional reforms were intended to reduce the size of parliament, putting limits on the Senate, and...

Syrian Rebels in Secret Talks With Moscow to End Aleppo Fighting

Erika Solomon and Geoff Dyer December 2, 2016
The Financial Times reports that Turkey has arranged secret talks between Syrian rebels and Russia to stop the fighting in Aleppo. The rebel-held portion of Aleppo is surrounded, and occupants are desperate for food, water and other supplies. The US, which has “provided limited training and weaponry for the rebels but had been hesitant to give forceful backing,” was not included in the talks, the...

US Fossil Fuel Projects Around the World

Sonali Prasad, Jason Burke, Michael Slezak and Oliver Milman December 2, 2016
The United States claims to lead on climate change yet fossil fuels make up the bulk of the country’s energy consumption. The country also supports fossil-fuel use around the globe: “Through the US Export-Import Bank, Barack Obama’s administration has spent nearly $34bn supporting 70 fossil fuel projects around the world, work by Columbia Journalism School’s Energy and Environment Reporting...

Seizing Opportunity in a Post-TPP World

Stephen S. Roach December 1, 2016
Trade is the glue for globalization and without it other connections can subside. But US voters rejected a US leadership role in global trade deals and elected billionaire Donald Trump who has already signaled intent to have the United States to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations. Analysts suggest that China could step into the US role, but “The baton of global...