[Update: In contrast to what had been the prevailing assumption in France following the verdict in Jacques Chirac’s corruption trial (all detailed below), the former French President announced Thursday night he would not seek …
corruption
Can A French Sports Star Change China’s Soccer Fortunes?
Chinese online-gaming mogul Zhu Jun is used to winning big. After all, he made his fortune in part by being the first to nab China distribution rights for the World of Warcraft franchise. But the soccer team that he bought with …
Retail Wars: India Plays an Economic Double Game
In 1991, Manmohan Singh was finance minister of a struggling, fractious government that was running out of money and ideas. Under pressure from international lenders, he championed a sweeping program of economic reform that took …
Chasing the Dragon: In Burma, All Conversations Seem to Lead to China
I went to Burma to see whether the reforms I’d heard about were truly transforming one of the most isolated nations on earth. Yet what many of my Burmese friends wanted to talk instead about was my place of residence: …
South Africa’s “Secrecy” Bill: A Blow to Post-Apartheid Democracy
If in any revolution, there is a moment after which it becomes unstoppable, that moment came for South Africa on Feb. 11, 1990, when Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years in jail. But if there arrives another moment after which a revolutionary party — too long in power, too arrogant, too corrupt — can no longer claim to act …