The international community is watching closely as Iranians wrap up two elections today, one for the parliament, or Majlis, and the other for the Assembly of Experts. For brief profiles of the central actors in current Iranian politics, Read Here – Brookings
Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union to punish President Vladimir Putin for meddling in Ukraine remain a drag on growth. And oil’s decline to a 13-year low has been catastrophic for Russia, where almost 50 percent of government revenue comes from crude and natural gas. Read Here – Bloomberg
Downshifting is always painful, but politicians often make it more painful—and ultimately more destabilising—than it needs to be. That was certainly the case in the U.S. in the 1970s, and Chinese leaders would do well to learn from America’s experience. Read Here – The Atlantic
Winston Churchill once famously remarked that Bolshevism must be “strangled in its crib.” In that same spirit, should the United States now seek to strangle China’s economy as a means of deterring its aggression? Read Here – The National Interest
The blending of left- and right-wing programs is hardly novel. The Nazis proudly called themselves National Socialists. And Mussolini, who started out as a diehard socialist, didn’t give up his core belief in state control even after he found a more effective way of rousing disaffected Italian masses. From the late 19th century onwards, political movements […]
Clearly, economic inequality is a highly complex phenomenon, affected by a wide variety of factors – many of which we do not fully understand, much less control. Given this, we should be wary of the kinds of radical policies that some politicians are promoting today. Their impact is unpredictable, and that may end up doing […]
As China’s power and status continue to grow, the big question for the whole world is how Beijing will use its newly acquired power to influence the world. It is safe to say that nobody within China has a satisfactory answer to this question. Still, we should pay serious attention to what Chinese scholars themselves […]
For Russia’s battered economy, 2016 already looks miserable. The ruble has slumped to record lows as oil prices have fallen 11 percent since Jan. 1, to around $30 a barrel. The government, which gets nearly half its revenue from oil and gas, is scrambling to plug a 1.5 trillion-ruble ($19.2 billion) hole in its budget. Read Here – Bloomberg
Terror attacks, geopolitical turmoil, volatile stock markets – it’s fair to say the year has got off to a bumpy start. But what will the rest of 2016 hold? While it’s notoriously difficult to make accurate predictions, some of the leaders in Davos had a go. Here’s what they think the next 11 months might […]
looking beyond borders 