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Asians Offer Region a Lesson – in English

April 25, 2004
According to this Miami Herald article, most of the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group (APEC) - a group that includes China, South Korea, and Singapore - are making impressive gains in teaching English to their schoolchildren. Economic success in Asian countries such as...

At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized

February 9, 2006
Recent violence in response to the infamous cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed may have not been as spontaneous as initially thought. At a December meeting in Mecca of Muslim leaders, Saudi, Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese officials thumbed through a dossier of the Danish cartoons. Ahmed...

An Empowered Middle East - II

Humphrey Hawksley
January 14, 2008

German Rift Over Dalai Lama Visit

May 20, 2008
The Dalai Lama is visiting Germany, and German political parties quarrel over his welcome and the possibility of offending China. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier refused to schedule a meeting with the Nobel laureate – and Christian Democrats, the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel,...

Hoosier Honda

July 25, 2006
As the largest US auto-makers cut jobs and close factories, foreign car companies expand production in the American heartland, and the expansion wins them friends in towns where not too long ago driving a Japanese car would have been anathema. Foreign firms steer clear of Detroit and head to...

Paris Takes Pragmatic Line as Poll Shows Isolation Fear

April 16, 2003
France: some say isolated diplomatically, but determined to press on for Iraq reconstruction.

A Desert Louvre?

February 13, 2007
When Dubai announced that it was building a series of islands representing “The World,” a real estate deal in which Rod Stewart is rumored to have purchased “Great Britain,” many commentators thought that the emirate had gone too, hilariously, far in its pursuit of luxury. But last month, the art...

中国向中东示好

January 30, 2012
中东和中国各有优势：中东有着丰富的石油资源，而中国以不干涉他国内政为基础的外交政策在该地区的专制政权国家颇受欢迎。因此，中国反对西方为了阻止伊朗核计划而对伊朗强加制裁。本文作者迪利普•希罗（Dilip Hiro）解释说，北京是伊朗石油的最大买家，购买量占伊朗出口总量20%。他回顾了近年来美国试图对伊朗实施制裁的历史，而与此同时，中国公司正与伊朗进行关于开展为期数年的石油和天然气交易的谈判。希罗报道称，中国智囊团网络中有一种共识，认为“伊朗在中东的实力不断增强，在与美国的较量中获得了越来越大的影响力”。到目前为止，贸易胜过了政治，因为中国不仅与革命后的利比亚开展贸易，...
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