In The News

Of Climate and Political Change

Nayan Chanda April 3, 2014
The threat of climate change – which poses an array of economic consequences – is missing from the political debate as Indians prepare for April-May general elections. “The impact of climate change has become more urgent and definitely more evident than it was five years earlier,” suggests Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor, in his column for Businessworld. The “monstrous cyclone Phailin that took...

How We Can Manufacture Forests Like Toyota Makes Cars

Marcus Wohlsen April 2, 2014
Forests and individual trees offer numerous benefits that include absorbing carbon emissions and noise, conserving energy and shielding shelters, preventing water pollution or soil erosion, and even increasing property values and reducing violence along city streets. An industrial engineer with Toyota applied strategies from the car manufacturer and Japanese forester Akira Miyawaki to growing...

The Cult of Cronyism

Siddharth Varadarajan April 2, 2014
India’s general election kicks off 7 April and by May should determine the next prime minister for the world’s largest democracy. Analysts anticipate a single-minded focus on global corporate interests and wealth creation from candidate Narendra Modi. Writing for Seminar, Siddharth Varadarajan suggests the shift in corporate allegiance from INC, the Congress party, to BJP, or Bharatiya Janata...

Shale Gas Helps Fracture US-Saudi Ties

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller April 1, 2014
President Barack Obama traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah, and both men “recognize that the geopolitical ground shaped by their common interest in stable oil prices has shifted, creating a new imbalance that could spill over into Mideast security policy,” suggests researcher Joergen Oerstroem Moeller. The so-called shale-gas revolution and eventual self-sufficiency in the United...

MH370 Amuses as Syria Suffers

Tony Burman April 1, 2014
The global audience appears to be more curious about the mystery of 239 people on board Malaysian Flight MH370 than the victims of the civil war in Syria – as many as 125,000 dead, including nearly 12,000 children, and millions of refugees as of December. Tony Burman, journalism professor, reviews the news coverage of a search by 25 nations for a missing jet versus the suffering in a refugee camp...

United Nations: Climate Impacts “Overwhelming”

Matt McGrath March 31, 2014
The impacts of climate change are severe and already underway – with higher risks of flooding, wildfires, food and water shortages, and property damage, suggests a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations. The report is based on more than 12,000 peer-reviewed studies. Researchers anticipate high costs for adaptation and disaster relief. “Humans may be able...

Obama Seeks to Repair Frayed Ties With Saudi Arabia

Ellen Knickmeyer, Maria Abi-Habib and Ahmed Al Omran March 31, 2014
US President Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia, its key Arab ally in the region, reinforcing relations, but with no policy changes announced. Saudi Arabia had hoped to convince the United States to supply Syrian rebels with more weapons and move cautiously on renewing ties or lifting sanctions for Iran, a strong ally to the Assad regime. “The Obama administration's reluctance to authorize...