Month: March 2012
News
The World Bank Issues “China 2030” Report in Collaboration with the PRC’s Development Research Center of the State Council
The People’s Republic of China has made few moves towards free market reforms in the past decade and has little incentive to do so with a robust economy and record-breaking growth rates. However, a Communist Party congress later this year will see the PRC with a new leader and potentially a new vision for China’s […]
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Former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde on Trial over Charges of Negligence in the 2008 Financial Crisis
Iceland’s former Prime Minister Geir Haarde is the first world leader to be brought to trial for his handling of the 2008 financial crisis that bankrupted Iceland and saw the collapse of the country’s three largest banks. Geir Haarde’s response to the serious charges levied against him in Reykjavik are that he is the victim […]
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News
What are the Limits of the U.S.-Israel Alliance?
To what extent can Israel exercise unilateral action in the face of external threats like the Iranian nuclear program without angering its longstanding ally the United States? An article from Gideon Levy for Haaretz claims that Israel is the “cricket chirping in the background about Iran,” a small state increasingly forced into a position in […]
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News
German Town of Munster Bans Drunk Cycling in Effort to Curb Bicyclist Deaths
The town of Munster, 296 miles west of Berlin, has banned drunk cycling because of five deaths in 2011. Munster is a college town plagued by drunken bicyclists if one is to believe a recent council measure passed revoking the license of any person caught biking under the influence. Previously, only motorists would face revocation […]
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News
To Their Surprise, the Russian Opposition Wins Seats After the Election
Even though the post-election discussions center on Vladimir Putin’s hold over electoral politics in modern Russia and whether this is healthy, some in the opposition now find themselves in power after winning local elections. Now, with real power in hand, how will the opposition transition its message into practical policies at a grass-roots level? In […]
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Are Declarations of Indian Industrial Might Premature?
Since the reforms of the economy in the 1990’s the India has grown immensely with domestic firms gobbling up foreign competition in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Because of the accelerated rate of globalization of Indian firms the percentage of Indian companies engaged in cross-border trade has risen, accounting for $129 billion in trade in […]
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News
Any Person Caught Defecting from North Korea During the Official Mourning Period for Dear Leader Kim Jong-il will have: ‘Three Generations of Their Family Executed’
The totalitarian regime of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has promised death to three generations of kinsmen for any person caught trying to escape from the Stalinist state during the official mourning period for former leader Kim Jong-il who died in December 2011. It is well-known that defectors from North Korea captured by Chinese […]
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News
Libya Unstable After the Departure of Qaddafi
While the hated dictator Muammar Qaddafi is dead and gone, the people of Libya still suffer as instability deepens and eastern Libya increasingly acts semi-autonomously in a movement led by former Libyan army officer Idris al-Rahel. The region’s top tribal leaders convened in Benghazi to plan a unilateral move toward statehood with only a loose […]
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Does the U.K. Have an Unjust Court System?
In the ‘Age of Terror’ western legal systems have grappled with the dual tension of protecting its citizens from terrorist attacks while also preserving the citizenry’s civil rights. While often the focus is on the secretive renditions and proceedings brought against terror suspects, we should not forget that sometimes other areas of the legal system, […]
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News
People’s Liberation Army (人民解放軍) Military Budget to Exceed $100 Billion
The rising superpower of the People’s Republic of China pledges more funds towards building its military capability as its interests in East Asia come more clearly into focus. With North Korea, Taiwan, and the South China Sea all on its plate, the need for China to build projective naval capability as well as concomitant land […]
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