Cambodia’s Economic Challenge
At 187 meters, Vattanac Tower is currently the tallest building in Cambodia. Workers are still adding the last window frames to the top floors but the structure stands finished. It overtook 118m...
View ArticleThe Next Oil?: Rare Earth Metals
Rare earth metals (REM) are increasingly becoming a critical strategic resource. The 17 elements can be found in most high-tech gadgets, from advanced military technology to mobile phones. China...
View ArticleThe Key To Asia’s Future
Over the last several decades, Asia has become increasingly integrated with the rest of the world, its rapid development driven largely by exports to the United States and European Union (EU). Yet, as...
View ArticleAmerica: The Next Energy Superpower?
From previously challenging the “tyranny of oil,” newly inaugurated U.S. President Barack Obama enters his second term in office as leader of a potential oil and gas superpower. According to BP’s...
View ArticleMongolia’s Economic Boom
Mongolia enters 2013 as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, with forecasters predicting GDP growth of 18-20 percent. Driven by a boom in mining revenues, the impact of this growth is clearly...
View ArticleA False Hope? Indonesia’s Economic Miracle
A few years ago, I was sitting in a swanky bar in South Jakarta popular with expats and Indonesian bureaucrats, sipping red wine for $25 a glass. During a discussion about the state of affairs in the...
View ArticleTurkey: Abandoning the EU for the SCO?
The European Union is in a rut. Its once-vaunted economy and “ever closer” integration is facing the tough challenges of a dogged recession and anti-EU sentiment in some of its most powerful member...
View ArticleSingapore’s Population Debate Grows Heated
Edwina Lin is 24-years-old and happily married, with a young son turning two this year. In Singapore, a prosperous city-state with a dismal birth rate, this is becoming increasingly rare. But it’s not...
View ArticleAmerica’s Dangerous Drift
In light of today's enormous domestic and international challenges, the United States today needs, more than ever, an effective grand strategy. Without one, the nation is in a dangerous state of drift....
View ArticleA Brave New Burma?
Last November, President Obama visited Burma, meeting reformist President Thein Sein and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But as the pace of change in the Southeast Asian country accelerates,...
View ArticleWhat Fracking Means for Southeast Asia
Oil and gas have long held the promise of untold riches for Southeast Asian countries. Yet, success in the region has been mixed: Brunei has flourished and Malaysia has seen steady progress, but Burma,...
View ArticleThe Promise and Peril of India’s Youth Bulge
As China, Japan and many other nations face an aging demographic profile, the youth segment of India’s population is growing rapidly, and is projected to continue to do so for the next 30 years....
View ArticleWhy the Revolutionary Guards Do Not Run Iran’s Economy
Particularly in the wake of the contested 2009 presidential elections in the Islamic Republic, a popular consensus has taken shape among Western government officials, policymakers, and scholars on the...
View ArticleThe “Fracking” Revolution Comes to China
As shale gas fever sweeps through Beijing, analysts are looking at the costs and benefits of extracting what is increasingly a controversial source of energy. But for China, with its growing middle...
View ArticleChina and Africa in the Xi Jinping Era
Recently installed Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit outside the country to Russia and then went directly to Tanzania before he attends the BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa,...
View ArticleAmerican Space Strategy: Choose to Steer, Not Drift
Space activities today play critical roles in United States national security, economic growth, and scientific achievements. The Global Positioning System is an integral part of several critical...
View ArticleAs Sri Lanka’s Economy Grows, Commercial Disputes Heat Up
Despite decades of internal conflict, Sri Lanka now boasts high-income growth and a notable reduction in human development index shortfall, according to the just-released 2013 Human Development Report...
View ArticleWestern Australia’s Energy Boom: Built to Last?
Western Australia’s energy boom has seen the state outpace the rest of Australia in job creation and economic growth, helping the conservative Liberal-National coalition comfortably win re-election....
View ArticleAbenomics: Now for the Hard Part
If Shinzo Abe wants wage increases, he should start by giving his media handlers a raise. Even before he became prime minister last year, Team Abe was doing a masterful job winning support for their...
View ArticleLessons From India’s Pop-Up Megacity: The Kumbh Mela
On February 10, 36 people were killed in a stampede at the Allahabad railway station. Allahabad, located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is the second-oldest city in India and plays a...
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