At only 32, MBS is already the most powerful figure in contemporary Saudi history, having sidelined other members of the ruling family with the full support of his father, King Salman. His concentrated authority and evident will to shake up the system make it possible for him to do great things. But he has also removed […]
The international pecking order is usually defined by economic and military might. That puts the U.S. at the top of the pile, with China gaining fast in second place. But when it comes to tackling long-term global challenges such as climate change, poverty or peacemaking, it’s also vital to identify which leaders are likely to […]
China’s rubber-stamp parliament allowed President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely, perhaps for life, as it ratified a contentious constitutional amendment to abolish the two-term presidential limit, making him the most powerful leader since Chairman Mao Zedong. Read Here – Business Line Also read: Chinese President Xi Jinping confident and relaxed as lawmakers vote to remove term […]
Predictions of a coming Indian golden age are typically based on two trends. The first is urbanization. Between 2010 and 2050, India’s urban population will grow by as much as 500 million—the largest projected urban population growth in world history. Historically, urbanization has been linked with rising literacy, the establishment of a middle class, economic dynamism, […]
The expectation that China would amicably integrate into a global order defined by the West, and radically transform itself in the process, was always wishful thinking. Writing about Britain’s handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wondered if China was inheriting “a colossal Trojan horse” that over time would bring down the Beijing […]
When Muammar al-Qaddafi came in from the cold in the mid-2000s, the “mad dog” of the Middle East embarked upon top-down reforms that were friendly to international markets, investors, the United States, and Europe. Although he became the subject of sympathetic profiles in major Western media outlets, those articles almost never emphasised the fact that […]
Fortunately for America and contrary to Washington conventional wisdom, the mighty-looking Chinese state is, in reality, particularly vulnerable at this moment. For one thing, its slowing economy is on the verge of a debt crisis. At the same time, Beijing, largely because of the expansive vision of its ruler, Xi Jinping, is overstretched. Read Here […]
China will remove the constitutional restriction on the maximum number of terms the president and vice-president can serve, Xinhua reported, paving the way for President Xi Jinping to stay on beyond 2023. Read Here – South China Morning Post
Residents of this coastal city of 4 million have begun stockpiling bottled water and lining up at natural springs. The reason? Cape Town, a global tourist destination and South Africa’s second-largest city, may soon switch off its taps. Dams are running low in the midst of an extreme three-year drought, one that has been compounded […]
It looks like being a particularly grim Lunar New Year in the “tigers’ cage” this week. The notorious Qincheng maximum security prison houses many disgraced senior Communist Party officials – including fallen security chief Zhou Yongkang, former Chongqing boss Bo Xilai, ex-presidential aide Ling Jihua and Guo Boxiong, who was once a top general. Read […]
looking beyond borders 