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In the midst of a wrenching global financial crisis, business and academic experts from around the world met in Beijing to discuss the causes and implications of the crisis. Although there was disagreement over the severity of the crisis, all participants agreed that it marks the end of the unbridled free-market economy in the U.S.
Young democracy, with weak institutions, often brings to power, at first, elected leaders who actually don't care that much about upholding democracy. As these demagogues tear down the very reforms the middle classes built, those same middle classes turn against the leaders, and then against the system itself, bringing democracy to collapse.
The next president of the United States will inherit the challenge of persuading the Pakistani leadership that it needs to continue prosecuting an unpopular, but necessary, war. Two fundamental changes need to be made by the next administration - it will have to strengthen the civilian government in Islamabad, while still maintaining a cooperative relationship with the Pakistani military.
This paper provides a historical overview of religious education in Central Asia, and assesses the efforts of the Uzbek government to define the content of Islam that has been presented in public life since independence was obtained in 1991.
Kuwait remains a classic rentier state, living on natural resources alone and unwilling or unable to diversify, reform, democratize, or otherwise change for the better. If anything, the emirate should be wallowing deeper in autocracy as state dependence on oil rises. Yet the politics of the country belie this.
China is shifting its focus from growth to the broader goal of development, which includes a wide range of social and economic policy objectives. To examine the nature and impact of that transition, Carnegie hosted an event with KC Kwok, chief government economist of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Albert Keidel, senior associate at Carnegie, moderated the discussion.
The countries of the East won't be banding together to replace the West as the seat of global power anytime soon. Many trends do suggest that Asian nations are becoming more integrated than ever before. At the same time, however, a virulent nationalism is spreading in the region, one that feeds on history to gin up hatred and push small-minded agendas.
The process of political evolution towards democracy needs to be supported regardless of the leaders it produces. The next U.S. president must pursue a balanced strategy toward Pakistan that simultaneously strengthens the civilian government—the best hope for Pakistan’s long-term stability—without alienating the Pakistani army.
Just three years ago, at the G-8 summit of industrialized nations, it looked like the world of foreign aid was about to change. Today, that hope has all but evaporated. A collision of factors, from politics to shifting global wealth, has unraveled the consensus once held among rich countries and allowed poorer nations to ignore calls for reform.
The Bush administration, in its eagerness to expand trade with China, has relegated consumer safety to the backseat. As the world's top consumer of Chinese goods, the U.S. has the clout to sway China's behavior, but the administration has alternately ignored safety concerns and accepted assurances from the world's fastest-growing exporter that it will clean up its act.
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