The Lady – Exiled Burmese media the Irrawaddy analyzes Aung San Suu Kyi’s prospects for a cabinet post after by-elections on April 1, mooting the health or education portfolios. “Both would be a good fit—she has often …
Foreign Investment
“China’s leaders have recognized that the country’s growth model, which has been so successful for the past 30 years, will need to be changed to accommodate new challenges.”
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 28, 2012
Electioneering – The New York Times casts skepticism on revelations Monday that Ukrainian and Russian intelligence services have thwarted an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin. “The report came less than a week before the …
Renault’s Morocco Factory: When Globalization and Politics Collide
It’s often said that in both business and politics (not to mention humor), timing is everything. And it was probably that critical element of delivery and context that caused the big news Thursday from French carmaker Renault …
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 27, 2012
Geopolitics – Foreign Policy takes an astute look at how Iran – contrary to its own initial hopes and others’ fears – has failed to benefit from the Arab Spring. “In fact, Iran’s regional position has taken a big hit,” Colin H. …
Sarkozy’s Tobin Tax Push: Wooing French Voters and Annoying E.U. Leaders
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has a knack of vexing his European partners—and he’s demonstrated that talent again with his pledge to unilaterally impose a so-called “Tobin Tax” on financial market transactions in France if …
Yesterday’s Gone: Euro Optimism Goes Flat and Here Comes 2012
As has become common during the nearly two years of Europe’s escalating debt crisis, reasons for guarded optimism that surfaced this week are being replaced with concern and doubt. In the wake of last week’s uplifting news …
How a Huge Infusion of Cheap Money will Help European Banks But Not Europeans
Might the world be witnessing the first signs of stabilization in the European debt crisis that has placed the euro’s very existence in doubt? That’s a hypothesis some observers are starting to consider carefully, thanks to a …
Why Qatari Owners of Paris’ Soccer Team Hanker For Aging Englishman Beckham
Why does perennially under-performing Paris Saint-Germain of France’s anemic professional soccer league see hiring a fading star at over $1 million per month as vital to assuring its future? Because the aging player in question …
The French on a Credit Downgrade Threat: Pick on Britain
Tis the season—for painful downgrades by credit agencies that is, as Thursday’s move by Fitch targeting six of the world’s largest banks again shows. And indeed, because such action is now so common, the big question …
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 …
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: …
Made Your Millions in China? Now It’s Time to Move Overseas.
China is minting millionaires at an unprecedented rate, but many of the country’s new rich are keen to leave the country where they made their fortunes. A recent survey by the Bank of China and the Hurun Report, a wealth-monitoring project run out of Shanghai, found that more than half of the 980 millionaires (or more, accurately, …