Perhaps no one in the world would relish a general election campaign between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush—apart from the two candidates themselves—more than the mandarins in Beijing. Already, official Chinese news coverage of the 2016 primary season is highlighting the back-and-forth baton exchange between the Clinton and Bush families. Other U.S. presidential candidates are often […]
One likely Saudi Arabian response to the deal its biggest enemy Iran has struck with world powers is to accelerate its own nuclear power plans, creating an atomic infrastructure it could, one day, seek to weaponise. But while it has recently made moves to advance its nuclear programme, experts say it is uncertain whether it could […]
The five BRICS countries are home to 42.6 percent of the global population, 21 percent of the world’s economy and nearly half of the world’s forex reserves, but have been marginalized in the global financial landscape. For example, in the World Bank, the five have a total of only 13 percent of voting rights, while […]
Asian leaders could be excused a degree of exasperation over the ongoing Greek mess. China’s slowdown and stock-market chaos are worry enough; the last thing the export-dependent region needs is a Europe in chaos. Worse, European leaders seem intent on misreading or ignoring lessons from Asia’s own brush with collapse. Read Here – Bloomberg
The problem is that China’s recent slowdown from 10 percent annual growth to about 7 percent is only the beginning. The recent drops in housing and stock prices are harbingers of a further economic moderation. That is inevitable, since no country can grow at a breakneck pace forever. And with the slowing of China, Brazil […]
What is this culture that everyone in Java speaks of? In the nation’s most populous island, syncretism is locked into the DNA. It is bizarre for the Javanese to think of their religion and their cultural history as incompatible; Hindu stories are part of their legacy, even though their religious affiliation might lie elsewhere. Read […]
Defenders of Barack Obama’s Iran deal ask a seemingly practical question of its critics: What would you do instead? But that question is only seemingly practical, not actually practical. The deal won’t go into effect only if two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to override a presidential veto of a joint resolution of disapproval. Ten […]
The ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine casts a long shadow over areas of shared American and Russian interest, making the Obama administration’s 2009 “reset” in relations appear a distant memory. However perceptions have shifted in the intervening six years, common concerns still exist between Washington and Moscow; chief among them: terrorism. For this reason, U.S. […]
After China initiated the “One Belt, One Road” project, a large number of countries have shown a willingness to join. However, India, which has enormous influence on whether the initiative, especially the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, can be implemented smoothly, has not officially responded. Some scholars therefore believe that the Indian government’s official attitude […]
When the United States threw off the British crown to become one of the world’s first republics, it also jettisoned the belief that some people are destined to rule over others because they were born or married into a particular family. Some two hundred and forty years later, the wife of a former President is […]
