With food prices jumping, governments no longer taking their agriculture sectors for granted. In recent years, African governments eliminated duties on imported rice and assumed that wealthy countries would also curtail agricultural subsidies, explains G. Pascal Zachary for Foreign Policy. Many...
Farming has suddenly become fashionable again. Once a largely ignored corner of the development business, agriculture is now a hot field among experts more versed in structural adjustments than crop rotations. Record...
Researchers continue to study the outbreak of a new type of bird flu, H7N9, in China for any signs that the virus can spread through person-to-person contact. “As long as it can spread only from a bird to a person through direct contact it poses a relatively small risk globally – particularly in...
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21世纪的头十年仍在积攒各种名号。让皮埃尔•莱曼（Jean-Pierre Lehmann）教授则认为，人们可能很快就把这十年看成是欧洲作为全球舞台上重要力量的告别演出。从曲折的宪法到缺乏一贯贸易政策，到未能让应对气候变化的全球政策生效，欧盟在整个十年间不仅表明自己不能以协调的步调行动，也表明其在全球舞台上的重要地位已经降低。在支持伊拉克战争这一问题上的分歧以及在哥本哈根气候峰会上缺乏表现，都是最能说明问题的例证。在莱曼看来，所有这些都在表明，欧洲在全球的势力正在衰弱。欧盟的经济地位及其成功吸纳以前处于苏联控制下的国家的事实，都证明它有能力为世界做出贡献，考虑到这一点，这个衰落的趋势令人遗憾。...
法国旺代省 LA VEZAUZIÈRE：哥本哈根气候变化大会标志着这个召开了无数全球性会议和峰会的十年的终结。此次大会并没有为它划下完美的句号，反而让我们听到了颇为凄惨的啜泣之声。这些会议和峰会凸显了，在十年间全球均势已发生了深刻变迁。作为哥本哈根大会的主要“受害者”，欧盟的衰落最为明显。
在1900至1910年间，亦即当欧洲在全球无可匹敌的优势地位还没有被第一次世界大战和随后美国的崛起而动摇之前，这一地区达到了 它的鼎盛时期。在2000至2010年间，欧元得到推广，...
全世界共有400多座核反应堆，分布在29个国家，还有64座正在建设中。本期耶鲁全球系列上下两篇文章认为，灾难比工业发展更能够暴露出工业评估和管理更新的需要。分析家理查德•维茨（Richard Weitz）在下篇中指出，日本福岛核电站事故揭示了，目前全球应急响应和安全标准可能不足以应对老化的反应堆、预期的工业增长和严重的天气事件。各国对本国的核活动安全负责，如果事故发生，国际原子能机构可以提供资源。维茨敦促道，国际原子能机构至少必须审议并增强应对多种原因造成的灾难的标准，不管这种灾难是自然的还是人为造成的。现场检查和对事故报道的要求也要合乎程序。...
响应请求：国际原子能机构官员测量东京的辐照量；各国要为各自的核安全负责，但是一旦出现事故，国际原子能机构可以提供资源以应对事故。
华盛顿：位于日本地震和海啸灾区的福岛第一核电站发生了核灾难，再次凸显了事故发生国需 要国际原子能机构（International Atomic Energy Agency），同时也突出了原子能机构在权力和资源上的局限性。要稳定核电站灾情、关闭核电站、废弃反应堆、减轻辐射污染，这些要花费几十亿美元。同样 重要的是，日本危机暴露出全球安全和应急网络的缺陷，...
Conflicts that linger for decades are costly in many ways and threaten security and reduce trust for all concerned. The Economist reports on the speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry on the ongoing failure to end the “stubborn struggle” between Israel and Palestine. Kerry described the...
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US voters responded to promises of tariffs, jobs and protectionism during the 2016 presidential campaign and spurred a backlash to globalization: “It is coming after the major costs of globalization have already been borne,” explains Neil Irwin for the New York Times. “And it comes just as billions...
The Chinese yuan is falling in value “because of expectations that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) was shifting to a policy allowing the Chinese currency to depreciate amid an escalation of China-US trade tensions,” report Karen Yeung and Enoch Yiu for the South China Morning Post. “Against a...
South China Morning Post: The yuan dropped for a ninth day on Tuesday, extending its longest losing streak in four years, because of expectations that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) was shifting to a policy allowing the Chinese currency to...
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia followed by a tsunami that struck Palu, a city of more than 300,000. The disaster killed more than 1300 and displaced tens of thousands more with survivors desperate for food, water and supplies. The numbers are expected to rise. “Relief workers are...