A month before the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade talks at Cancún, the US joined the European Union in favoring "perpetual agricultural protectionism." Consequently, when trade negotiators met in September in Cancún, the joint US-EU proposal did not seek to eliminate export...
This will be registered as one of the biggest mysteries in the history of trade diplomacy: On Aug. 13, 2003 - a month before the WTO Ministerial Conference meeting in Cancún, Mexico - American trade negotiators suddenly...
In the Middle Ages, spices were valued commodities, but not, as most people assume, for their ability to preserve meat. Rather, it was because medieval cuisine placed a premium on a variety of flavors. Spices were also thought to have medicinal properties, adding to their allure. These are only...
Workers harvest pepper near Quilon, south India in the 14th century: The desire for flavor fueled building of empires. (Source: Marco Polo's Livre des merveilles)
The control over gold, silver, precious metals and recently oil has been a source of...
China insists that its One Belt, One Road initiative stretching along three continents will benefit the entire world with $1 trillion in infrastructure improvements. But some countries harbor doubts. Businesses and governments in the West express concern that the massive trade and infrastructure...
Complicated road: Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss One Belt, One Road and other projects at the June meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; the Chinese-built Gwadar port in...
The United States was undisputed leader of economic globalization until the 2008 global financial crisis. The country’s moral and economic leadership has since gone into decline. The US share of global gross domestic product has dropped for more than 20 years, from 32 percent to 22 percent. This...
Neighbors that trade: Canada and Mexico are top US trade partners for agricultural machinery; ASEAN, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand plan for the largest trade deal that would cover about half the world’s population...
The World Trade Organization is effective at reducing trade frictions among more than 160 members because of its Dispute Settlement Understanding that allows enforcement of complex trade rules. Yet the United States has steadfastly blocked appointments to the Appellate Body, which is supposed to...
Unappealing prospect: President Trump's decision to block filling positions in the WTO's Appellate Body could deal a blow to the world trade body and global order
NEW HAVEN: The WTO is one of the most effective international institutions by virtue...
Global leaders are failing youth, and 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg addressed 60 world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit about the need for urgent action on climate change, warning “we’ll be watching you.” Her assessment was concise, blunt and searing: “People are suffering. People are...
The quick connections and passion forged over the internet challenge authoritarian governments worldwide. Vietnam is no exception. Social media and blogs connect social activists as well as the diaspora, reports Huong Nguyen, research fellow at the Center for Constitutional Democracy at the Indiana...
BLOOMINGTON: As in many other authoritarian countries, the internet has opened up doors for dissent and social criticism, but in Vietnam, it also connects the diaspora and draws critiques of the country’s foreign relations.
Vietnam acquired...
The world has a record-breaking number of grandparents, representing almost 20 percent of the global population. “Today’s grandparents play vital and increasingly indispensable roles in modern family life, contributing to the well-being of generations succeeding them,” explains Joseph Chamie. “...
Mutual support: As more families care for grandparents and grandparents care for children, countries around the world like India and Costa Rica set aside special days to celebrate the role of grandparents
NEW YORK: Of the world’s 7.6 billion people...
