Paul Krugman, columnist for the New York Times, wrote an op-ed this week arguing that China, the empire of carbon, “cannot continue along its current path because the planet can’t handle the strain.” China is the world’s leading producer of carbon dioxide and the country’s “emissions, which come largely from its coal-burning electricity plants, doubled […]
“Over the past several years, we have seen cyberattacks against critical infrastructures abroad, and many of our own infrastructures are as vulnerable as their foreign counterparts,” warned Dennis Blair, the United States Director of National Intelligence. “A number of nations, including Russia and China, can disrupt elements of the US information infrastructure.” Several commentators and […]
The New York Times this week has featured Op-Ed contributions discussing the weakness of the American Dollar and its potential fall as the world’s major reserve currency. The only obvious choice for a successor to the Dollar is the Chinese renminbi, as argued by Nouriel Roubini. As Roubini points out, major reserve currencies are held […]
Nigeria recently surpassed the United States as the world’s second largest film industry behind India. Bollywood produces the most movies in the world, followed by Nollywood and Hollywood. According to research conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), however, “US movies continue to dominate cinema admissions around the world.” In some […]
One of the under-the-radar news stories these past several weeks has been mysterious indirect negotiations between American and Iranian officials regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. The Iranian nuclear program is worrisome to most western powers not because it would provide Iran with an alternative power source, but because if Tehran were to convert its civilian-level nuclear […]
Ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s trip to Beijing next week, Brazil announced that China surpassed the United States as the country’s largest trading partner. Trade with China totaled $3.2 billion in April, compared with $2.8 billion in imports and exports with the US. “The US has been Brazil’s principal trading partner for […]
Among residents of the BRIC nations, Brazilians are the happiest, followed by Russians, whereas the Chinese are the least happy, followed by the Indians, according to a recent OECD report.
The temperature in South Asia, often sweltering, has heated up over the last week. Read a selection of news reports below. With the peace deal between the government of Pakistan and the Taliban in tatters and pressure on Pakistani President Zardari from Holbrooke and Co. getting heavy, the Pakistani armed forces launched attacks in recent days on the […]
This weekend Russia unveiled its new missile defense system as part of a military parade to celebrate Victory Day (WWII) in Moscow. Put on show around Red Square was the S-400 missile defense system, which many in Russia consider to be a counterweight to American Patriot missiles. President Dimitry Medvedev spoke at the event, stating: […]
6. Six countries chose not to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s ongoing military exercises in Georgia. Largely to appease Russia, Armenia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova and Serbia withdrew from the “war games.” Stratfor notes that “while most of these countries either hold strong political ties to Russia or are wary of angering Moscow […]
Despite Russian objections to “meddling” in its sphere of influence, the European Union launched an “eastern partnership” with six former Soviet republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – at a summit yesterday in Prague. The plan is designed to extend political and economic ties and promote democratic reforms. Notably, leaders from Britain, […]
So, where does our moralistic support of national self-determination of peoples begin and end? The Abkhaz and South Ossetians? The Chechens? The Basques of Spain and France? The Kosovar Albanians? The Palestinians? The Tibetans and Taiwanese? The Kurds, the Armenians, the Azeris? The Sunni of Iraq? The residents of Darfur and of southern Sudan? Kashmiri Muslims under Indian rule? Tamils in Sri Lanka? German speakers in the Italian Sud Tirol?
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