US presidential candidates are promising new directions on trade relations with Asia. Varying levels of concern have emerged in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, suggests “America’s 2016 Election Debate on Asia Policy and Asian Reactions,” a report prepared by Robert Sutter and Satu Limaye for...
United against trade? Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for US president, top, gained traction with opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and now Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State and Democratic nominee, also critiques the...
The United Kingdom severed ties with the European Union, with current rules to remain in place until the end of 2020. The leaders have 11 months to develop new trade rules: The EU expects the UK to abide by strict rules to prevent unfair competition while Johnson insists the UK will “prosper...
Boasting uninhibited women, lush tropical backdrops, and cheap production costs, Brazil has become a prime destination for adult film outsourcing. But Brazil also has the second highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the western hemisphere. Last month, the porn industry's increasingly global...
SAO PAULO - Flush with dollars, American porn film directors swoop into Brazil for its exotic and uninhibited women, dazzling tropical backdrops and cheap production costs -- a phenomenon that has turned South America's...
Labor strife in Germany continues, as Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, proposed a plan to reduce personnel costs by US$2.4 billion dollars. The proposal, which includes among its provisions a two-year pay freeze for VW employees, has fanned the flames in an already heated environment....
For the tens of thousands of protesting Germans who have filled streets on the past five Mondays, the name “Hartz“ has come to epitomize drastic benefit cuts for the long-term unemployed. For about 100,000...
Technological junk from around the world is finding its way to Thai ports, where it becomes the government's property – and the government's responsibility. Since Thailand is not a member of international agreements banning trade in hi-tech garbage, it cannot send unclaimed shipping...
Thailand has become a waste basket for the world's electronics junk, with at least 100 containers of used gadgets stored at Bangkok's Klong Toei port with no registered owners, according to a senior official with the...
石油和天然气资源上的冲突、教派间的竞争以及外国介入，这些因素相互关联，构成了波斯湾及阿拉伯半岛不稳定的来源，印第安纳大学的伊朗问题专家贾姆希德•乔柯西（Jamsheed K. Choksy）和卡箩尔•E•B•乔柯西(Carol E. B. Choksy)如是说。什叶派穆斯林占全世界穆斯林人口总数的15%，因此决策者经常忽视他们在波斯湾地区的集中性。在那里，逊尼派占总人口的36%，而什叶派占60%。逊尼派统治的国家甚至可能在官方统计中少算什叶派人口。作者写到：“沙特阿拉伯和它的逊尼派伙伴越来越多地利用原油和天然气资源来满足世界对能源的旺盛需求，伊朗和它周边的什叶派伙伴却还抓住这些资源不放，...
能源分歧：逊尼派沙特阿拉伯依然是西方的主要伙伴，阿布杜拉王子与奥巴马总统会面（上图）；什叶派伊朗也有大量石油和天然气储量，南帕尔斯油气田
布 卢明顿：石油和天然气的获取是外交政策的主要推动因素，因此有必要对控制未来石油及天然气供应的集团进行战略性的分析。理解了波斯湾和阿拉伯半岛地区逊尼 派和什叶派之间变换的势力平衡状况，也就可理解当地在民主权利问题上发生的愈演愈烈的骚动。什叶派和逊尼派之间的宗教分裂出现于七世纪，如今这种分裂与石 油、天然气、政治权力及军事力量等问题混杂在一起，...
Uncertainty in global economic or security affairs is often associated with risk. “And yet, ambiguity can be ‘constructive,’ bringing clear benefits in the field of negotiation and conflict resolution,” observes Mikhail Troitskiy, a political analyst in Moscow. “Ambiguity can be a force for common...
Protective ambiguity: Mikhail Gorbachev, George H.W. Bush and Helmut Kohl gather in 2005; Russian President Vladimir Putin demonstrates new weapons to Russian parliament
MOSCOW: Ambiguous behavior, doctrines and statements have gained popularity as...
The US Army Corps of Engineers drains Florida’s largest freshwater lake to nearby rivers to prevent flooding of South Florida communities. Lake Okeechobee’s waters, polluted by chemicals from the agriculture industry, eventually wind their way to the coast, reported to be causing toxic algae blooms...
