Many analysts had hoped that the democratic elections in 2008 and the resulting civilian government might stabilize Pakistan. Instead, a dithering and weak government which tried to buy off Islamic militants by a controversial ceasefire now face a breakdown of the ceasefire, in the midst of new...
Fire and sermon: Car bomb explodes in the western town of Quetta; Islamist leader Maulana Fazlullah (inset) holds sway over Swat Valley
LAHORE: Just as the Obama administration tries to get a handle on Pakistan –...
Intricate connections between global economies – including trade treaties, exchange rates and foreign investment – prevent individual nations from completely controlling how their individual economies are molded. Low US interest rates have fueled a credit crisis and inflation so drastically as to...
Barring a financial accident or a market meltdown, the European Central Bank looks set to raise interest rates by a quarter point on July 3. The question, though, is whether one or two small rate increases will be...
World creditors came to a sudden conclusion – that US deficit spending at the household and government levels is highly dangerous and unsustainable – and as a result hang on tight to any money they hold. Spending and lending has slowed drastically. Major institutions – lending agencies, investment...
Click here for the article on The Financial Times.
After months of delays, the US and Poland quickly reached agreement on a US missile defense base in Poland: 10 interceptors against ballistic missiles will be based in Poland, relying on a tracking system based in the Czech Republic. Russia’s military support of separatists in Georgia gave speed...
Click here to read the article in The New York Times.
Indonesia is emerging as an increasingly prominent country in international affairs, but its interests may be best met by stabilizing its relations with regional powers in Southeast Asia. In particular, as Sabam Siagian contends, Indonesia can benefit tremendously by forging strong ties with...
In foreign relations, it seems like Indonesia would rather be preoccupied with big and complicated international issues than work on stabilising relations with neighbouring countries such as Singapore.
In...
Early in 2007, businessman and environmentalist Richard Branson offered a $25 million prize for developing a technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An existing technology, however, promises to capture those emissions before they begin warming the planet. Carbon sequestration...
Click here to read the article in The Chicago Tribune.
With imbalances threatening ongoing disruption to the global economy, Harold James, history and international relations professor at Princeton University, proposes a new task for the International Monetary Fund. In the past, the IMF has served as a crisis manager for global economic problems, and...
Click here for the original article on Project Syndicate.
China’s move to devalue its currency is “a potentially major step toward a more market-determined exchange rate,” argues Nicholas Lardy for China Economic Watch. The move unleashed a sell-off of global stocks, but is more likely tied to China’s efforts to promote the renminbi as a world reserve...
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