As the European Union opened trade and borders, foreign investors set up shop in communities throughout the former Soviet Republic. For example, Samsonite opened a factory in Samorin, Slovakia, in 1997. But the jobs and economic development were short-lived, with Samsonite moving its production...
Click here for the original article on The Economist.
Illegal immigration is a hot-button topic in the US presidential election: Voters in some states key for the US presidential election demand immigration reform; farmers need workers willing to plant or harvest crops on a seasonal basis; communities worry about paying for public services to...
Click here to read the article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Newspapers have had to contend with lots of competition. Reporters are likely to run their own blogs, fewer people read newspapers, and the internet has become a popular source for the news. Yet newspapers are still thriving, especially in Asia and Latin America. The newly literate regard newspaper...
Click here to read the article in The Economist.
Commercial shipbuilding is on the rise, with more than 5000 giant ships set to be launched over the next three years. The boom is a response to China’s growing export market, reports Thomas Schulz in “Der Spiegel.” Germany owns most container ships, followed by China, Japan and Taiwan. But Asian...
Click here to read the article in "Der Spiegel."
Finding a single individual who could be hiding anywhere in the world is a difficult task. Put this individual in some of the harshest, most remote terrain on earth, among people sympathetic to his cause, and the task is more challenging. The US has stepped up efforts to hunt for Osama bin Laden,...
Click here for the original article on The Washington Post's website.
After this summer’s war in Lebanon, a small window of opportunity has opened in the Middle East, according to Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Even as political divisions run deep in Lebanon and neighboring countries, the conflict demonstrated that...
You may think this the least propitious moment to speak of finding a solution to the longstanding, bloody and highly contagious Arab-Israeli conflict. After all, in addition to huge human and material losses, the legacy...
Reality always trumps theory. Nayan Chanda points out that this was seen when aftershocks from the American stockmarket meltdown put to rest the theory of ‘decoupling’. The stockmarket jitters that ran from Tokyo to Shanghai to Mumbai shows that Asian growth is very much linked, further proving...
Reality always trumps theory. We saw this when aftershocks from the American stockmarket tremors put to rest the theory of ‘decoupling’, which held that the rise of China and India has created an Asian sphere...
Burma, called Myanmar by its current rulers, is rich with natural resources, yet one of the poorest nations in Asia. All resources go toward keeping the current regime in power, and the military junta relies on violent repression to stop Buddhist monks and activists marching in protest to seek...
Power dance: China's predominant influence in Burma ensures its own interests without pressuring the repressive government
CHIANG MAI: Burma’s saffron revolt and the first flush of images and news through cell...