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US Free Speech vs China’s Censorship

December 4, 2018
The US-China trade clash centers on intellectual property theft. “An underlying factor is the Chinese government’s rigorous censorship of imported cultural products,” explains Ge Chen, professor of law. The US Constitution protects speech as a check against excessive government power with the First...

Giving Voice to British Arab Culture – And Its Discontents

June 29, 2005
When Reem Maghribi, a 26-year-old British Arab designer, realized that Arabs lacked a voice in the United Kingdom, she founded Sharq, a magazine devoted to the promotion of “British Arab Culture.” With an increasing number of British Arabs questioning their identity amidst a climate of “...

North Korea Nuclear Threat? South Koreans Roll Eyes

October 3, 2017
Dulled by more than six decades of outlandish propaganda and threats, South Koreans may have grown overly complacent about North Korean provocations, warns journalist Shim Jae Hoon. “Seoul is left shaken and apprehensive about the progress achieved by Kim Jong Un and his intercontinental missile...

The Achilles Heel of Xi's Reforms

December 19, 2017
The rule of law is a fundamental prerequisite of globalization that contributes to a stable environment for trade and investment, argues Ge Chen, an expert on China’s judicial system and legal policies at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. Chen writes about the fervent anti-...

Saudi Arabia Shifts Policy From Risk Averse to Downright Dangerous

November 28, 2017
Saudi Arabia as absolute monarchy and the United States as democratic republic are polar opposites in terms of political governance and culture. Yet the two nations have had close ties since 1943 when pragmatic leaders focused on shared security concerns. More than seven decades later, the...

Helping Guatemalans Stay in Guatemala

October 24, 2019
Guatemalans make up about 40 percent of the nearly 1 million people who have turned themselves in to US Border Patrol agents since October 2016. Many are desperate to flee rural poverty and gang violence, attempting a treacherous journey through Mexico to the United States. “While the numbers of...

Bangladesh Joins the Space Age

July 5, 2018
With the launch of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite, Bangladesh has entered the space age. The project, assisted by other space powers, cost US$248 million and marks a promising step in integrating the economy in a global market, explains Abu Sufian Shamrat. Critics of the Bangabandhu-1 point to other...

Russia-Iran-Turkey Alliance Puts the US on Back-Foot

December 7, 2017
US power is waning in the Middle East as an emerging alliance among Russia, Iran, Turkey and Qatar gathers strength. “Most alarming for America,” according to author and historian Dilip Hiro, “Turkey is NATO’s easternmost member with the second largest military in the defense partnership” and “...
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