A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that the global middle class encompassed 54 million fewer people in 2020 than the number projected prior to the onset of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of poor is estimated to have been 131 million higher because of the recession. The drop-off in the global middle class was […]
Whither the “Quad”? Is the Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—a loose grouping of likeminded Indo-Pacific nations—a military coalition in the making? Maybe—but how tight that fellowship becomes is largely up to Communist China, the provocateur that brought disparate partners together in the first place. Read Here | The National Interest
Two recent reports on the health of global democracy make for dismal reading about India’s political trajectory. For the first time since the late 1990s, the pro-democracy nonprofit Freedom House downgraded India’s status from “Free” to “Partly Free,” on account of the country’s weakening protection of civil liberties. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Pakistan has unveiled a new “geo-economic vision” that offers to “bury the past” with neighbouring rival India if it reciprocates with a “relaxation” on the two sides’ long-running dispute over Kashmir. Pakistan’s olive branch announcement, made on March 18, comes after last month’s bilateral resolution to revive an 18-year-old ceasefire agreement to end Kashmir’s Line […]
China’s ambitions in the Arctic are well-documented, starting with Beijing’s own 2018 Arctic Strategy, which proclaimed the country a “near-Arctic” power and outlined a “Polar Silk Road.” Since then, though almost two thousand miles from the Arctic Circle, China has been aggressively promoting this agenda in international forums, through investments in actual Arctic states, and by aggressive construction of a fleet […]
The Sydney Opera resumed live performances and the city of Melbourne recently hosted the Australian Open tennis tournament with fans (mostly) in attendance. Japan is back to planning the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, while China focuses on the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Having been hit by COVID-19 first, Asia is also recovering first. At the pandemic’s […]
The UN Human Rights Council held a mirror to the United States’ human rights record this week by adopting the outcomes of the country’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Unfortunately, because of the body’s politicised nature, the reflection the UPR offered was a deeply distorted one. Read Here | The National Interest
The United States must forge a relationship with China defined by an uncomfortable and undeniable paradox: deep and complex interdependence on the one hand and rapidly diverging interests—regarding security, economics, technology, ideology, and more—on the other. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
The accelerating rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in many advanced economies has set the stage for rapid recovery in the second half of this year and into 2022. Although growth in digital and digitally enabled sectors will level out somewhat, high-employment service industries will ride a wave of pent-up demand. Read Here | Project Syndicate
Ahead of an all-crucial meeting with high-ranking Chinese officials later this week in Alaska, top Biden administration officials are rallying regional allies for a united front against the Asian powerhouse. In their first foreign trip (March 15-18), the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have embarked on “two plus […]
looking beyond borders 