Analyses
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A German perspective on the Eurozone crisis, and an analysis of the dilemma that Germany now faces. Trying to explain the German approach to the Euro crisis, and to Greece, the "Economist" last week went back more than 400 years all the way to Martin Luther, to sin and damnation: "why should sinners be given an easy way out". Actually, there is a much simpler explanation: Germans firmly believe in European integration, but have never whole-heartedly embraced the Euro. Grasping this ambiguity of the German frame of mind goes a long way to explaining Chancellor Merkel’s actions - or lack thereof - during the Eurozone debt crisis, and it helps to understand why...
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By Zha Daojiong Myanmar’s recent suspension of a China-funded dam project draws attention to cross-border electricity inter- connectivity between China and its southern neighbours Vietnam, Thailand and Laos, apart from Myanmar. Energy poverty is plaguing the border regions. Challenges for Chinese energy companies are growing. Controversies involving Chinese energy companies in hydropower development in continental Southeast Asia are in the news again. In September 2011, the government of Myanmar suspended construction of the Myitsone dam, a project started in 2006. In June, when fighting between Myanmar government troops and Kachin rebels broke out, observers were quick to draw...
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This article was first published by Knowledge@Wharton on October 12, 2011. European and US markets remain inextricably linked and a common effort might be the only way to solve the financial crisis. Concerns about Europe continue to drag down capital markets in the United States, which had begun to recover earlier this fall after a bitter congressional debate over the debt ceiling and a subsequent credit downgrade. And while U.S. markets were relieved that German and French leaders agreed on Sunday to come up with a plan to stabilize a simmering sovereign debt crisis in time for next month's G-20 meeting, many obstacles to a resolution of Europe's complex economic...
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Implications of recent Chinese history on Chinese-Indian relations. A hundred years may be a brief temporal punctuation for an ancient civilisation like China or India but the commemoration of the 1911 Xinhai revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty in China may be deemed an event of tectonic proportion for Asia, in particular and the world by extension. Two millennia of imperial rule had come to an end - and Asia's first republic was born. The 1911 Revolution began as an armed uprising on the evening of October 10, 1911, when Xiong Bingjun, a soldier in the New Army engineering battalion fired the first shot in Wuhan that signalled the start of the 1911 Revolution. Thus...
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Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, hearing on “Manufacturing in the USA: How Trade Policy Offshores Jobs” (full text available in downloadable pdf below) September 21, 2011 This testimony draws upon my forthcoming book, “Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance,” my article in Foreign Affairs with Aaditya Mattoo, From Doha to the Next Bretton Woods” and my forthcoming paper with him, “A China Round of Trade Negotiations." Underlined text indicates links to supplementary material. Summary and Recommendations 1. In the post-World War II period, open trade, by lowering prices,...
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This article explores the status of NATO-Russia relations in particular since the NATO Summit that took place in Lisbon in November of 2010. It is divided into three parts. The first section summarized the history of NATO-Russia relations since the fall of Communism and the launching of the Partnership for Peace program in 1994. PART 2 of 3 The Theatre Missile Defense Strategic armaments appear to be the most delicate issue in NATO-Russia relations. A critical rift ossified during the April 2011 Berlin NRC (NATO-Russia Council) Foreign Ministers’ meeting regarding Theatre Missile Defense (TMD). As stated in the 2010 Strategic Concept, NATO seeks cooperation on missile...
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Government contractors must remain a vital part of international stability operations. In the past decade, the United States has dramatically shifted its foreign policy priorities. The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have demanded additional capabilities and capacities beyond those that the U.S. Government is able execute on its own. Such gaps have traditionally been filled by contractors, who bring enormous and cost-effective capabilities, capacities, and expertise. In its final report, the bi-partisan Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC) recognized this, stating, “The logical implication of this geo-political environment is that contractors will remain a significant...
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By Glenn CarleAn excerpt from Glenn Carle's bestselling book The Interrogator: An Education, about his life as a spy. PREFACE: LYING, HONOR, AND THE GRAY WORLD I was a spy. I broke laws. I stole. I lied every day, about almost everything: to my family, to my friends, to my colleagues, to everyone around me. I almost never was who I said I was, or did what I claimed to be doing. Sometimes I was not American. I exploited people’s deepest hopes, won their deepest trust, so that they provided me what my government wanted. I was an angel who made men’s dreams come true, but my name was Faust. I healed a father’s desperately ill child, helped a frustrated employee do in his boss, or the...
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This article was first published by Knowledge@Wharton on September 28th, 2011. Analysis on the fairness of the tax system in the US, and likely scenarios for its future. Is the tax system in the United States fair? That's kind of a trick question, as fairness and unfairness are usually in the eye of the beholder. Often, a case for fairness boils down to nothing more than self interest. And because there is no final word on the subject, the debate can go on forever. In the current round, Washington is wrangling over President Barack Obama's call for a "Buffett Rule" to make sure the wealthy pay a "fair share" of taxes -- a percentage of income at least...