Getting Ready For European Citizenship
The German Green Party has introduced a potent idea in the run-up to this year’s federal elections: abolish German citizenship and replace it with a European option. Read Here – The European
Tag: trade
Should We Be Upsetting China?
Reports suggesting that India withdrew from a planned naval exercise with the United States last month out of fears it might upset Beijing are only the latest reason to grapple with an increasingly pertinent question: What are the costs these days of hurting the feelings of the Chinese people? Read Here – CNN
So, Whatever Happened To Vietnam?
It has been 27 years since Hanoi launched the “Doi Moi” reforms that allowed privately owned companies to participate in the economy and opened key sectors, such as agriculture. The rapid growth that followed propelled Vietnam toward the realm of middle-income nations, transforming the onetime war zone into a case study for development and poverty reduction. […]
After Vote, Pakistan’s Strongest Ally Should Be India
Whichever party takes power in Islamabad will almost certainly have to cobble together a coalition to rule. The new government will inherit a looming foreign-exchange crisis, hours-long blackouts that have provoked street riots, and overlapping insurgencies and sectarian wars that have claimed thousands of lives. Though army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has resisted the temptation to […]
South Korea’s Not-Really-Iron Lady
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. During her ultimately victorious presidential campaign last year, South Korea’s new conservative president, Park Geun Hye, rarely touched on foreign policy. (Though it’s a fair question as to whether North Korea really constitutes “foreign” policy as far as Seoul is concerned.) When I traveled with Park as she campaigned across […]
America Has Something to Prove to South Korea
South Korean President Park Geun-hye meets President Obama on Tuesday in Washington. The South Koreans created a slogan for the summit, “Bound by trust, forward together,” the first time they have adopted an English language motto for an event of this sort. During her visit, Park may talk about “the most successful alliance in history”—the mutual defense pact turns 60 […]
Can Mubarak’s Cronies Buy Their Way Out of Jail?
On March 28, Egypt’s former trade minister, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, was removed from an arrest list after he paid back a total of 15 million Egyptian pounds (approximately $2.2 million) to the state as part of a reconciliation program under President Mohamed Morsi. Rachid, who served as minister from 2004 to 2011, fled just before […]
Germany Has Won the Euro War Thanks To China
Germans are less and less interested in Southern Europe as a market for exports. The driver of German exports abroad are emerging markets (and the United States, to a lesser degree). Italy is only the seventh-largest importer of German goods, and Greece, Spain and Portugal are even further down the list. Notwithstanding a collapse of […]
Learning From Depsang
If the Chinese action on the ground on the Depsang plain, initiated on April 15, is taken in conjunction with President Xi Jinping’s March 29 statement in Durban that the border issue should be resolved “as soon as possible”, we can conclude that China is signalling a new activism in its border dispute with India. […]
Japan’s Outreach To Myanmar
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly plans to visit Myanmar in late May. The last time a Japanese prime minister visited the county was in 1977 when Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda visited then Burma. Mr. Abe should consider what kinds of concrete contributions he should make to help advance democratization in Myanmar. Read Here – Japan […]
