Tag: Politics

Written by lookingbeyondborders

Can Russia Lead the G20?

Russia is taking the helm of the Group of 20, and with that honor comes a unique opportunity: to lead the international community toward sustainable, inclusive growth and shared prosperity in 2013. The Russian government has pledged to focus its G20 presidency on practical solutions to stimulate growth and jobs, manage government debt and regulate the financial sector. Russia could lead in advocating yet another significant G20 priority: strengthening local capital markets. […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Myanmar’s Kachin Problem Needs Political Touch

Almost all ethnic armed groups have successfully signed ceasefire agreements with the Burmese government. The Kachin Independence Organization, with its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA), is the only major armed group still battling the Burmese army. Along with the Chins, the Shans and the Burmans, the Kachins signed the historic Panglong agreement to […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Time for U.S. to Stop Shielding Israel

We are now set for a third term for Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu. And, although Netanyahu’s Likud–Yisrael Beiteinu coalition seems to have underperformed expectations, a plurality of the vote will allow him to once again lead Israel’s government. But even a somewhat moderated Netanyahu government will continue to advance radical positions that put regional and […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Would China Block Korean Unification?

A recent research report on the growing economic integration between China and North Korea by the minority staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has attracted a bit of media attention.  Like most other government documents,this report—titled, “China’s Impact on Korean Peninsula Unification and Questions for the Senate”— languished in obscurity until The Washington Post wrote a […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Fracking Means A New Middle East

Imagine a future meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, where the agenda is set not by Iran or Saudi Arabia, but by the United States. Oh, and the meeting takes place in Tel Aviv — because the other big power in OPEC is Israel. That’s where the world is headed, thanks to the […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Violent Dissent And The Dream Of Democracy

Millions of people in Arab Spring nations are painfully realising that the fruits of revolution are not all they were cracked up to be. January 25 was meant to be a joyous occasion in Egypt, but instead of fireworks, there were Molotov cocktails and smoke from burning tyres and torched buildings. No major Egyptian city […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Obama’s Parting Gift to Hillary Clinton

Last week campaign disclosure reports revealed that Hillary Clinton had finally retired the debt from her 2008 presidential campaign—with a little help from the guy who beat her, Barack Obama. Clinton’s debt once totaled more than $20 million, although it had dwindled to about $250,000 by last year. That’s when a team of top Obama donors decided […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

The New Political Geography Of Europe

The euro crisis has revolutionised politics across Europe. Established political parties are fighting for their lives; countries that thought of themselves as part of the European core are finding themselves on the periphery; and a huge gulf has emerged in the core of Europe. What we are witnessing, as the euro crisis enters its third […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

India’s Great Number Fetish

Whatever may be said about India, it is obvious that no structural transformation of our largely poverty-stricken economy has occurred and what is more, none seems very likely in the immediate future. Not only have three decades of high GDP growth gone unaccompanied by a societal transformation, we seem to have regressed on certain fronts. Read […]

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