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The Way We Live Now: Diminished Returns

May 18, 2009
Claims that deregulation caused the financial crisis miss the mark, according to economic historian Niall Ferguson. Deregulation has been going on since the 1980s and led to growth as well as decline. And regulation failed to prevent financial collapses in the 1970s. Moreover, regulation, as...

The Law of the Spirits

June 30, 2006
Good cooks like to experiment. But vodka producers in the Nordic, Polish and Baltic markets want to restrict ingredients for vodka production to two raw products: cereals or potatoes. Such are the issues that have posed obstacles for negotiators throughout the Doha round of trade talks. The...

Iran: Bad Tactics or Good Strategy?

March 20, 2007
In a world of hitherto five official and three unofficial nuclear powers, Iran is keen to join the club, as shown by its non-compliance with the UN Security Council’s resolutions. Although Iran insists that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes, it has rejected Russian offers to...

Iraqi Civil War Shrinks US Options

December 4, 2006
Any plan for an organized exit of US troops from Iraq depends on the government having some semblance of control over the streets and oil fields. With a sharp rise in sectarian violence, the US military trains Iraqi factions to fight one another in civil war – a tremendous waste of time and...

Arms Control and the Axis of Evil

Sandy Berger
February 18, 2002

China’s Chokehold On Rare-Earth Minerals Raises Concerns

Michael Richardson
November 10, 2010

China’s Nomads Trade Up for an Easier Ride on the Range

July 31, 2006
High up in the mountains of the Qinghai Province in China, the nomads who populate the region have switched from horses to motorcycles for transportation. The shift has a practical basis, with nomads moving tents and herding yaks and sheep back and forth between winter and summer pastures. Since...

The Real Summit has been Between China and the US

April 2, 2009
Posturing and theatrics aside, the most discussed issues of the G-20 summit – tax havens, financial regulation, or the IMF’s voting powers – are of marginal importance at best. The crying need of the hour is to ensure that the current financial crisis does not worsen: a difficult task given that...
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