The novel coronavirus plunged emerging markets into crisis. As investors rushed to safety, major emerging economies lost more than $100 billion in foreign currency reserves in the month of March alone. Trade flows shrank. New capital inflows dried up. In many ways, the pandemic has been harder on emerging economies than the 2008 global financial […]
As India and Australia prepare for a virtual summit next month between prime ministers amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a possible strategic initiative could involve the cooperative use of their respective island territories in the Indian Ocean for strategic purposes. India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands are well positioned to offer significant advantages […]
From its founding in 1948 until the first decade of this century, WHO was mainly known for defeating smallpox, fighting polio and tuberculosis, and providing support to poor countries that lacked sufficient health infrastructure. However, under the leadership of Margaret Chan, appointed director-general in 2006, and her successor since 2017, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO has […]
Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump face challenges to their legitimacy and political future from the pandemic and the two are equally eager to deflect responsibility for the crisis. The Chinese regime has mounted an aggressive campaign to promote the superiority of its system and assert global leadership, despite widely held […]
Xi Jinping’s China is displaying a superpower’s ambition. Only a few years ago, many American observers still hoped that China would reconcile itself to a supporting role in the liberal international order or would pose—at most—a challenge to U.S. influence in the Western Pacific… Now, however, the signs that China is gearing up to contest […]
As Brazil and India struggle with surging coronavirus cases, a top health expert is warning that the world is still in the very middle of the outbreak, dampening hopes for a speedy global economic rebound and renewed international travel. “Right now, we’re not in the second wave. We’re right in the middle of the first […]
Chinese surveyors and climbers plan to scale the summit of Mount Everest on Wednesday in the latest attempt to measure the precise height of the world’s tallest mountain. The country’s measurement of the peak as part of a comprehensive scientific survey could improve further on its previous measurement of 8,844.43 metres (29,017.2 feet), made in […]
China’s foreign minister has defended the country’s combative “wolf warrior” diplomacy, saying the country will stand firm in defending the national interest and combating “smears”. Wang Yi, who is also a State Councillor, also lashed out at attempts to sue China for compensation over the Covid-19 pandemic, telling a press conference on Sunday that the […]
The United States and China are coming dangerously close to a collision in the South China Sea, a clash that could easily turn rhetoric and threats of a “New Cold War” into actual armed conflict. The sea moves come against the background of a rising war of words, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying […]
The past is not prologue, and the comparisons to war have limits and detractors. Still, wartime analogies can be useful for an understanding of the potential economic consequences of this crisis. Wars last longer than downturns, and the economic cycle in which we suddenly find ourselves is unlike any peacetime cycle we have experienced in […]
