The “Lost Decade(s)” that have beleaguered the Japanese economy are rarely lost on anyone. In 1985, the Plaza Accord strengthened the Japanese yen. This, alongside overzealous financial deregulation, fueled an asset bubble that eventually burst i...
TW: Kidnapping, suicide, domestic violence In rural Kyrgyzstan and parts of southern Kazakhstan, when a young man decides he wishes to marry, his parents scour to find the perfect bride. After a suitable bride is picked out, the prospective groom and...
For decades, Islamic nations have invoked ummah solidarity to express outrage over injustices affecting Muslims. From Palestine and Kashmir to the Rohingya crises, leaders within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) frame solidarity with opp...
The lavish spending habits of China’s new rich are more often than not a subject of lighthearted ridicule. Gold-plated Lamborghinis and tiger-penis aphrodisiacs are among the luxuries that are in high demand by the country’s new billionaires, acc...
The lavish spending habits of China’s new rich are more often than not a subject of lighthearted ridicule. Gold-plated Lamborghinis and tiger-penis aphrodisiacs are among the luxuries that are in high demand by the country’s new billionaires, acc...
A wispy layer of fog lay over seemingly endless rice paddies in the valley where Pyongyang Sunan International Airport is situated. Air Koryo flight JS 156 was a short one, in the air a mere forty-three minutes. However, those forty-three minutes pro...
A wispy layer of fog lay over seemingly endless rice paddies in the valley where Pyongyang Sunan International Airport is situated. Air Koryo flight JS 156 was a short one, in the air a mere forty-three minutes. However, those forty-three minutes pro...
On September 22, a political dynasty fell. Following a highly publicized corruption trial, former Chinese politburo member Bo Xilai had his assets stripped and was sentenced to death. His predicament gained global attention, providing a rare look int...
On September 22, a political dynasty fell. Following a highly publicized corruption trial, former Chinese politburo member Bo Xilai had his assets stripped and was sentenced to death. His predicament gained global attention, providing a rare look int...
Li Keqiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China. “China’s economic growth is unsteady, unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable,” admitted then-Premier Wen Jiabao at the annual meeting of China’s legislature in March 2007. The...
Li Keqiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China. “China’s economic growth is unsteady, unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable,” admitted then-Premier Wen Jiabao at the annual meeting of China’s legislature in March 2007. The...
Last week, I wrote about the coming debt ceiling crisis and some of the effects that might play out on the global stage should such a crisis occur. Gideon Rachman at the FT has done a better job at that than I could hope to – yesterday’s col...
Last week, I wrote about the coming debt ceiling crisis and some of the effects that might play out on the global stage should such a crisis occur. Gideon Rachman at the FT has done a better job at that than I could hope to – yesterday’s col...
China is no stranger to image problems. Maligned by the West since the rise of Mao Zedong, it has often found itself at the receiving end of criticism and outrage. Although skewed Western perspectives are part of the problem, China’s propaganda mac...
China is no stranger to image problems. Maligned by the West since the rise of Mao Zedong, it has often found itself at the receiving end of criticism and outrage. Although skewed Western perspectives are part of the problem, China’s propaganda mac...
The death of Lee Yong-nyeo, who was 87 years old when she passed away last month in South Korea, has renewed concerns that former comfort women may not live to receive an official and sincere apology from the Japanese government. Lee was one of many ...
The death of Lee Yong-nyeo, who was 87 years old when she passed away last month in South Korea, has renewed concerns that former comfort women may not live to receive an official and sincere apology from the Japanese government. Lee was one of many ...
The Internet, a virtual space existing somewhere beyond the physical world, has become an engine for actual, tangible change. From Cairo to Moscow, bloggers, Facebook-users and Tweeters have exposed corrupt officials, initiated political discourse, a...
The Internet, a virtual space existing somewhere beyond the physical world, has become an engine for actual, tangible change. From Cairo to Moscow, bloggers, Facebook-users and Tweeters have exposed corrupt officials, initiated political discourse, a...
At the center of the many conflicts in Africa is another war. This battle deals not with state borders, but with the items transported across them: ivory and arms. Militias, criminal groups, and even governmental forces are capitalizing on high consu...
At the center of the many conflicts in Africa is another war. This battle deals not with state borders, but with the items transported across them: ivory and arms. Militias, criminal groups, and even governmental forces are capitalizing on high consu...
In March of 2011, one fruit vendor’s act of bravery unleashed a wave of revolution across the Arab world. Can yet another fruit vendor spark a national liberation movement? This past week, a Uyghur fruit vendor was gunned down in broad daylight a...
In March of 2011, one fruit vendor’s act of bravery unleashed a wave of revolution across the Arab world. Can yet another fruit vendor spark a national liberation movement? This past week, a Uyghur fruit vendor was gunned down in broad daylight a...
It was among the ravages of world war that the brain child of John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White came into being. Seventy years ago at Bretton-Woods, 45 nations created the International Monetary Fund in the hopes of repairing and re-integrat...
It was among the ravages of world war that the brain child of John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White came into being. Seventy years ago at Bretton-Woods, 45 nations created the International Monetary Fund in the hopes of repairing and re-integrat...
Often discussed during the past month’s Syrian chemical weapons debate has been the present and altogether fractured state of U.S.-Russian relations. In the cold, marbled walls of embassies, state departments, and, of course, the U.N., this con...
Often discussed during the past month’s Syrian chemical weapons debate has been the present and altogether fractured state of U.S.-Russian relations. In the cold, marbled walls of embassies, state departments, and, of course, the U.N., this con...