Analyses
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By James M. Dorsey Saudi Arabia has openly embraced Salafism to shield itself and its fellow conservative Gulf monarchies from the wave of anti-government revolts sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. This counter-revolutionary strategy is a gamble with wider repercussions beyond the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has long been seen as the main backer of Salafis across the globe. It has always, however, shied away from officially endorsing the Muslim trend that until recently preached a politically quietist return to the way of life at the time of Islam’s first seventh century Caliphs. If Saudi support and funding of Salafi communities in the past constituted a key but discreet element...
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Hungary was recently criticized for its high budget deficit and its fiscal policy. For the first time, the European Commission (EC) threatened a country with loss of funding and went ahead to suspend financial obligations to Budapest unless it does not accept EC financial conditions. Alex Herholz argues that sanctions should have been imposed earlier for reasons other than financial. In 2011, the nationalist conservative government of Viktor Orban could not reduce the deficit below 3% of GDP. The EC found that, without special taxes and reclassifications in the retirement system, the real deficit for 2011 is 6%. It is for this reason that Brussels intends to withhold payments of over €...
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America cannot ignore its political similarities to some European countries and can learn much from their mistakes. Europe's economic woes threaten the American economy. More importantly, America should learn lessons from the European experience. America shares more with Europe's problem children than it cares to admit. The difference between winning and losing in today's economy is cultural and structural, rather than European or American. Europe is not a state but an integrated region with some states that have weathered the global downturn nicely and others that are effectively bankrupt. Europe's problems are not even defined by the euro-zone. Sweden has maintained its...
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An examination of the challenge of feeding the growing human population while preserving the ecosystems on which we rely, as exemplified by the pressures confronting Asian elephants. Last year the human population hit seven billion. According to the BBC’s population counter, at the time I was born, it was just over 4.5 billion – this represents an increase of 2.5 billion in just 30 years. We often hear that we are perfectly capable of feeding our current population, thanks to the green revolution that raised the productivity of the American farmer to levels undreamt of by our agrarian ancestors in Africa. This paradigm has extended beyond American soil, sought after by many a...
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This is no time to be complacent, or politically correct, or we will witness the loss of the largest land mammal left on Earth. Trade in elephant ivory is a hugely divisive issue because it subsumes so many dimensions: human-elephant interactions, cultural artifacts and traditions, global illegal trade, and the conservation of elephants. Ivory exploitation will determine the probability of elephant populations becoming extinct and will affect human livelihoods. Ivory embodies the dilemmas associated with sustainable use of wildlife. Similarly, the loss of elephants has implications for regional environments, given that African elephants range across sub-Saharan Africa with significant...
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By Vikram SoodThe changing concept of security influences the development of new weapons and security measures. H.G. Wells gave us The War of the Worlds, the first science fiction novel about Martians landing on earth, and is sometimes credited with thinking up the tank in his 1903 short story The Land Ironclads. Jules Verne, after whom the French have named their elegant restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris, was more famous for his science fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, which spoke of the first fictional submarine, the Nautilus. The Bruce Willis-starrer Armageddon was probably as real as John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Real wars have provided opportunities to...
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By Bob PozenMitt Romney’s candidacy has inspired a great deal of debate about the role of private equity in our economy. Romney’s opponents have openly questioned whether private equity serves a legitimate purpose in a capitalist system. Many claim that private equity merely facilitates a transfer of wealth from employees of a company to the private equity managers that take it over. Most of the discussion has focused on the big picture: whether laying off workers can be good for the growth of the economy. Many observers have eloquently defended private equity’s role in such “creative destruction.” Here’s the National Record’s Reihan Salam: "[S]uccessful...
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The urban sprawl is creating unique challenges and opportunities related to natural ecosystems. As a result, policy makers need to think innovatively about a range of issues from land-resource planning to broader ecological and energy implications. The resulting challenges include reducing pollution, increasing biodiversity, managing peak energy demand and cost, heat-stress health implications, and ensuring an adequate supply of water and nutrients. By Radhika Khosla In 2008, for the first time ever, the urban population of the world outnumbered that of the rural. This visible trend has escalated over the last couple of decades; projections suggest that by the end of the twenty-first...
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By Zach PaikinThe US needs to develop a strategic partnership with Canada in order to access Arctic oil reserves and gain better energy security. In a surprising move, President Barack Obama’s administration recently rejected TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposal – a proposal that would have shipped one of Canada’s most prominent natural resources from Alberta’s oil sands all the way to Texas. The White House’s decision has Canada looking for new markets to which it can export its oil. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in China last week to explore how ties between the latter and his country can be deepened. Although many are quick to exaggerate the...