In The News

Chinese Billionaire Makes Aggressive Moves in Hollywood

Ryan Faughnder and David Pierson October 5, 2016
The Dalian Wanda Group could be intent on learning the arts of soft power. After the Chinese conglomerate purchased a Hollywood production company and a large movie theater chain for a combined $6 billion, 16 members of US Congress urged the comptroller general to consider if new standards should be applied to similar foreign acquisitions. The September 15 letter raises the possibility of Chinese...

No Country Is Taking the 2 Degree Climate Target Seriously

David Roberts October 5, 2016
Cognitive dissonance is when thoughts and attitudes do not match behaviors. Humans are nervous about climate change, but they are not changing old habits around fossil fuels. “The more you understand the brutal logic of climate change – what it could mean, the effort necessary to forestall it – the more the intensity of the situation seems out of whack with the workaday routines of day-to-day...

Asians Concerned by Extreme Comments of US Presidential Campaign

Satu Limaye and Robert Sutter October 4, 2016
US presidential candidates are promising new directions on trade relations with Asia. Varying levels of concern have emerged in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, suggests “America’s 2016 Election Debate on Asia Policy and Asian Reactions,” a report prepared by Robert Sutter and Satu Limaye for the East-West Center. The center promotes good relations and understanding between the United States...

Global Economic Growth “Sliding Back into the Morass”

Chris Giles October 4, 2016
A report from the Brookings Institution and the Financial Times indicates that global economic growth rates are slowing. The report was published before the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where global economic leaders plan to stress the value of inclusion and global cooperation and other main tenets of globalization. The Brookings-FT Tiger index compares numerous...

Study: Decline of Traditional Media Feeds Polarization

Ricardo Gandour October 3, 2016
Most citizens have access to more community information than ever before, especially online. But the struggle of traditional news outlets, especially the community newspaper with declining budgets and staff members, contributes to fewer informed voters. “[P]eople today are exposed to news mixed with gossip, opinion, hot takes, and branded content, from a variety of sources but often through a...

Analysis: How the Colombian Peace Deal Fell Apart

Alan Gomez October 3, 2016
After years of civil war, amid sentiments that Colombian leaders failed in addressing rural concerns, a rebel movement emerged in 1964. “People around the world were stunned when Colombians voted down a peace deal that could have ended a 52-year battle between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC,” reports Alan Gomez for USA Today. “The main reservation...

US to Russia: Stop Aleppo Assault or Syria Talks End

September 30, 2016
Horrific scenes from Aleppo are released to the world daily – streets empty except for rubble, wounded children, and dire shortages of food, water and other basic supplies. The United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries have taken sides in the civil war that has raged since 2011. Ceasefires do not hold, and the power vacuum has opened space for multiple terrorist groups...