In the lobbies of Rangoon’s few business hotels, Western investors in suits are gathering with local businessmen in traditional sarongs to discuss joint ventures, land-lease terms, and profit repatriation rules. For decades, Burma—which is also known as Myanmar—was distinguished for its ruling junta’s imprisonment and torture of political dissidents, execution of protesters, violent campaigns against […]
Since returning to power as Russia’s president three months ago, Vladimir Putin has lived up to his well-honed reputation as the hard, no-nonsense man of East European politics by bullying his way into the internal affairs of neighbors with fearless abandon. Read Here – The Diplomat
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar‘s pro-democracy leader, is travelling to the US for the first time since she was put under house arrest in 1990 to receive the highest civilian honour in the US. The Nobel laureate, who begins her 18-day tour of the US on Monday, will be presented the Congressional Gold Medal and meet various […]
In Australia-China ties: in search of political trust, Linda Jakobson argues that this is detrimental to Australia’s interests because China is not merely an economic power but also a crucial political and security actor in the region. Underdeveloped political and strategic relations between Canberra and Beijing weaken Australia’s ability to exert influence regionally. Australia risks […]
The United States on Monday filed a broad trade case against China at the World Trade Organization, alleging unfair subsidies for exports of cars and auto parts. The case comes at a critical time in the United States presidential campaign, as auto manufacturing states in the upper Midwest like Michigan, Wisconsin and particularly Ohio have turned into crucial battlegrounds. But […]
Four years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the near-total paralysis of capitalism’s central nervous system — the moment fear completely overwhelmed greed on Wall Street — we are starting to see a few glimmers of hope. The good news: Several big banks have finally started taking steps to reform Wall Street’s out-of-control […]
JOHN DARWIN has spent his whole career thinking about Pax Britannica. Three years after his magisterial study, “The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830-1970”, the Oxford historian has returned yet again to the subject. This time, though, his focus is different and the period he covers is longer. His new book […]
In a matter of weeks, the Australian government will release a White Paper entitled “Australia in the Asian Century.” According to my sources, the report will look at how Australia can best exploit future economic opportunities in the region focusing on China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Conspicuously absent from the primary analysis […]
THE imagery is graphic enough. A mob scales the walls of the American embassy in the Egyptian capital, raises an Islamist banner and burns the Stars and Stripes. A female announcer dons a headscarf on state television for the first time in its 50-year-long history. Bearded police officers demonstrate for an end to the force’s […]
It is true that foreigners are never really viewed as Chinese. The sooner foreigners accept that, and learn what limitations that means, the faster they can focus on building profitable businesses. Few foreigners have lived in China for decades (even five years is considered a long time by many), so most are viewed as vagabonds […]
