OK, so this blog is closed... but I couldn't resist the temptation to scribble down some predictions about international relations in the year ahead. First, a debrief on 2008. Last year's predictions were - predictably - mixed. I was right...
Here's the thing, right? There are two clear underlying causes to all the major problems on earth. The first is overpopulation. Overpopulation means that there are too many people chasing after too many resources - energy, water, land etc. which...
Next Thursday, 7 February, sees the beginning of the Chinese Year of the Rat, the first in the Chinese Zodiac cycle. No, this isn't some cod astrological analysis: but it does put a little bit of mystical context in. Just...
Well, it's that time again - as the year 2007 draws to a close, we look to the future. And one thing is for sure: the primary foci of this weblog, Pakistan and China, were hardly out of the news...
There's been much talk in recent weeks on the Treaty of Lisbon, or the EU constitution that wasn't - but not much talk on these pages. The fact is that in the sum of all things, the EU is simply...
Finding a resolution to the crisis on the Turkish-Iraqi border has deep implications for many of the parties involved. Turkey in particular, with its ambitions to be viewed as a leading state in the Islamic world as well as its...
Can Europe Help Tame China’s Environmental Nemesis? BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China admits to climate failings "Compared with social and economic modernisation, China's ecological modernisation lags far behind," said the research group's director, He Chuanqi. Damn right. The single...
You don't need a degree in development economics to see who the winners and losers will be. Despite China's economy relying on manufactured exports to the West, it still invests nearly twice as much in R&D as India; I dread...
One to note for my forthcoming paper on the value of European pressure on China's environmental policy. How charities can help China's social and economic development | Society | SocietyGuardian.co.uk The last two decades of China's growth were based on...
The lack of genuine discussion on the EU's new policy paper on China does expose its effective irrelevance. The PRC, for one, is not going to be unduly concerned by it. The Asia Times does have a crack at analysing...
The paper hasn't yet appeared online, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for it. I expect that it'll be notable for what it desn't say as much as for what it does. Xinhua is certainly keeping mum about anything...
Liberalisation is great, until it bites back. Such is probably the underlying message of the latest trade dispute between the EU and China. The latter, of course, can hardly be said to be a squeaky-clean example to the rest of...
"We are used to thinking in terms of conventional warfare between nations, but energy is becoming a weapon of choice for those who possess it." Such is the assesment of Senator Richard Lugar, and it is not a bad one...
Today's what, in the business, they call "a fast news day". Stuff happened. Lots of it. We awoke to images of anti-government protests in Hungary, sparked by the Prime Minister's admission of misconduct. Though rain stopped play today, the storming...
Asia Times Online :: China News - Commerce greases EU-China 'partnership' The EU presents a complex challenge for China. On the one hand, the EU itself, which conducts the European relationship with China in many areas, is undoubtedly an important...
BBC NEWS | Europe | China and EU to hold treaty talks China and the EU are doing more business together than ever before. Now they have agreed to start talks on updating the framework which governs their relations. Political...
Faith and the State Remarque Institute (NYU) and ISHSS (UvA) US-Europe Public Forum 2006 A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. Edmund Burke, 1729-1797 Be afraid. If recent press reports are to...
The Beeb's Paul Reynolds takes a brief and orderly look at what's at stake in the current round of Middle East crises (Lebanon invasion, Palestine troubles, Iraq violence, Iran's nukes). Summarized from my own point of view below, it's all...
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. The Economist's choice of title (from a poem by Dylan Thomas) for its...
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Mid-East conflict: Who stands where Useful summary of the Lebanon situation as of this moment....
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