China’s antagonistic response to concerns over the use of forced labor in Xinjiang suggests that its leaders believe that the Chinese market is simply too lucrative for Western firms or governments to abandon. They may be overplaying their hand. Read Here | Project Syndicate
In recent weeks, senior Pakistani officials, including the country’s powerful army chief, have signalled or outright said that, from now on, their country’s foreign policy will emphasise geoeconomics. This is a welcome rhetorical shift. Read Here | Foreign Policy
China and Japan have decades of experience in managing their regular diplomatic crises, but escalating tensions over Taiwan and territorial disputes in the East China Sea are creating a new test for Asia’s most powerful giants. Read Here | South China Morning Post
After last year’s economic collapse, the prospects for a strong cyclical recovery have always been strong. And judging by a series of must-watch high-frequency indicators, the long-awaited boom has arrived and seems likely to continue building – at least in the near term. Read Here | Project Syndicate
The ruling communist parties of Vietnam and Laos have formally named their new leadership teams after five-year reshuffles, and the new lineups appear very peculiar. Politicians whose experience should have made them ideal candidates for certain roles were installed in positions ill-suited to their skills. Round pegs have been placed in square holes. Read Here […]
Far from offering America a face-saving exit from a 20-year war, a complete US military withdrawal from Afghanistan will make it an accomplice of the Taliban. And a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan will cause lasting damage to the interests of the United States and its friends. Read Here | Project Syndicate
Stability in Jordan is certainly of interest to the wider Middle East and the international community at large. Jordan, which has maintained a peace treaty with Israel since 1994 and is considered a crucial U.S. regional ally, has weathered a series of dire challenges in recent years, including the hosting of millions of refugees and […]
As they, like China, have undergone an authoritarian shift in recent years, some Middle Eastern countries that are long-time US allies have endorsed China’s hardline stance on human rights and political dissent. It has had a dampening effect on the global backlash against China… Read Here | South China Morning Post
It is one year into the COVID-19 pandemic and the global community still confronts extreme social and economic strain as the human toll rises and millions remain unemployed. Yet, even with high uncertainty about the path of the pandemic, a way out of this health and economic crisis is increasingly visible. Read Here | IMF Blog
looking beyond borders 