The warming of relations between China and South Korea coincides with Beijing’s harder line towards the North, which drifts further into isolation. While Kim was reported to have rashly snubbed earlier Chinese invitations to meet President Xi, it is now suggested that the North Korean leader has run afoul of Beijing after ordering the execution […]
Read Here – Pew Research
China has embraced Russia, as the West cuts off Moscow due to its hatred for Vladimir Putin. The results of this new friendship will impact the world. Read Here – Businessweek
Math skills in America are falling and reading skills are weakening, writes David Edwards, and asks whether American children have become less literate than children in many developed countries as they learn within a system of educations devised for a world that increasingly does not exist. Read Here – Wired
The west has lost the power to shape the world in its own image – as recent events, from Ukraine to Iraq, make all too clear. So why does it still preach the pernicious myth that every society must evolve along western lines, asks Pankaj Mishra Read Here – The Guardian
Rather than aligning themselves with China, countries in the Asia-Pacific are turning to the U.S. How then, can China continue its pursuit of regional hegemony without inflaming regional fears? Instead of pursuing assertive actions against regional neighbors, China will need to consider an alternative approach, one that attracts potential allies, instead of repelling them. Read Here – The Diplomat
As anti-government protests escalated in Ukraine in February, activists took to Facebook and Twitter to popularize a name for the revolutionary movement. They called it “Euromaidan,” after the pro-European bent of the demonstrators and the central square in the capital where they were massing. Read Here – The Atlantic
As African nations recalculate gross domestic product to include previously unaccounted-for economic activity, it is evident that the size of the continent’s economy is much larger than what has been largely believed. Read Here – Businessweek
The first unresolved problem confronting the world is what exactly to do about Iran. The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran would dwarf that which is posed by ISIL, whose mayhem and carnage a coalition of nations is now working to suppress. Read Here – National Interest
The country’s intensifying efforts to redraw maritime borders have its neighbors, and the U.S., fearing war. But does the aggression reflect a government growing in power—or one facing a crisis of legitimacy? Read Here – The Atlantic
