The conflict between Washington and Beijing over the WHO’s conduct has been thrown into sharp relief because the pandemic has killed more than 217,000 people and infected over 3 million, with an especially large toll in the United States. Yet, it is just emblematic of the much broader struggle for hearts and minds playing out […]
Time is everything. Effective policy responses must reach informal workers and their families quickly to prevent them from falling (deeper) into poverty and to protect their livelihoods. Even with their budgetary and capacity limitations, countries in the region are implementing measures to help the most vulnerable. But given the size of the economic shock, much […]
The fundamental reality about the economic relationship between China and Australia is that the two nations are deeply important to each other, and so despite the veiled threats from the Chinese government, and the desire in some parts of the Australian community for a split, a great economic decoupling is not an option. Read Here – The […]
Total global military expenditure rose to $1917 billion in 2019, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The total for 2019 represents an increase of 3.6 per cent from 2018 and the largest annual growth in spending since 2010. The five largest spenders in 2019, which accounted for 62 per […]
Denouncing China was a bipartisan sport in Washington well before the coronavirus pandemic, but now leaders in Europe, where the pandemic has also hit hard, are clamouring for accountability from China because of its early missteps and obfuscation, which abetted the spread of coronavirus around the world. But how severely can they really punish a […]
Halting the pandemic that is ravaging much of the world should be everyone’s top priority, but delaying an independent review of national and international responses won’t slow the spread of the disease. Waiting to initiate such an inquiry will only deprive the WHO and its member states of valuable feedback that could help them improve […]
Beijing has been mounting a diplomatic push to help the world contain the pandemic and, in the process, reposition itself not as the authoritarian power that was slow to sound the alarm on the impending health crisis, but as the global leader that stepped up when others didn’t. In some places, it appears to be working. Not everywhere, though. […]
There are also real concerns about the continued supply of products and medicines, partly because countries may hoard drugs during a crisis, and partly because of the quality of manufacturing processes—worries that are not unique to India. The world depends on a few key exporters: China for personal protection equipment, India for medicines, Malaysia for […]
What a difference two decades make. In the early years of this century, the world appeared to be moving toward a single, seamless order under U.S. leadership. Today the world is fragmenting, and authoritarian challengers, led by China and Russia, are chipping away at American influence in East Asia, eastern Europe, and the Middle East. […]
US President Donald Trump has warned China that it should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic, as he ratcheted up criticism of Beijing over its handling of the outbreak. “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it,” […]
looking beyond borders 