Economia

World Investment Report 2010 – UNCTAD

Global foreign direct investment (FDI) witnessed a modest, but uneven recovery in the first half of 2010. This sparks some cautious optimism for FDI prospects in the short run and for a full recovery further on. UNCTAD expects global inflows to reach more than $1.2 trillion in 2010, rise further to $1.3–1.5 trillion in 2011,… »

Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2010 – UNESCAP

Even at the height of this crisis, Asia and the Pacific displayed a new-found resilience. Its developing economies achieved an annual growth rate of 4.0%, making it the fastest-growing region in the world, thanks to growth in China and India at 8.7% and 7.2%, respectively. However, the rest of Asia-Pacific’s developing economies contracted in 2009… »

Tracking Chinese Investment: Western Hemisphere Now Top Target – Heritage Foundation

China has at least $2.5 trillion in foreign exchange and must, due to its own balance of payments rules, invest it all overseas. Most unavoidably goes into American bonds, the only market big enough to absorb it. However, since the beginning of 2005, the PRC has invested almost $200 billion in foreign assets outside bonds…. »

Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress – CRS

(PDF) – In recent years, U.S.-Mexican relations have grown stronger as the two countries have worked together to combat drug trafficking and secure their shared border. The 111th Congress has maintained an active interest in Mexico with counternarcotics, border, and trade issues dominating the agenda. To date, Congress has appropriated some $1.3 billion in assistance… »

Pandemic Preemption. A U.S. Strategy for Infectious Disease Control – USIP

The spread of old and new infectious diseases constitutes both a threat to U.S. and global security and peace and an opportunity for the United States to burnish its international image through strengthening foreign capacity in infectious disease surveillance and response. Despite an increase in overall U.S. expenditures on global public health, U.S. policy is… »

Mekong Tipping Point: Hydropower Dams, Human Security and Regional Stability – Stimson Center

The October 1991 Paris Peace Accords on Cambodia closed the book on four decades of bitter conflict in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia. The Accords created new opportunities for broad-based economic and social development based on reconstruction, renewal and regional economic development in the 795,000 square kilometer Mekong River Basin, sometimes called the… »

The PLA at Home and Abroad: Assessing the Operational Capabilities of China’s Military – SSI

The chapters presented in this volume have demonstrated first, Chinese and PLA leaders have a strong sense of mission and concern for China’s security and well-being. Second, the PLA is committed to the transformation in military affairs with Chinese characteristics. Third, the PLA is eager to learn from the U.S. military to expand and improve… »

The Role of Pipelines in Regional Cooperation – Brookings Institution

Natural resources, such as oil and gas, are commonly viewed as catalysts of conflict. Because individuals, ethnic groups, and governments often see control of scarce resources through the lens of a zero-sum game, they compete with each other over ownership. Competition can easily spill into conflict. For this reason, it may seem odd to ask… »

International Statistics on Crime and Justice – HEUNI/UNODC

HEUNI Report series contains a number of studies, seminar reports, and other material on developments in crime and criminal justice in Europe and North… »

The Newly Emerging Arctic Security Environment – Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI)

(PDF) – The Arctic is changing and, as a result, is garnering unprecedented international interest.
With warming temperatures, melting ice and greater accessibility to resources in the region, concerns for security in the region are at the forefront of the Arctic states’ attempts to maintain their foothold in the Arctic. All of the Arctic states –… »

The EEAS and the EU-India Strategic Partnership – IDSA

In early July the European Parliament approved the formation of a European External Action Service (EEAS) with an overwhelming majority. The nascent but ambitious EEAS primarily aims to achieve coherence and coordination in the bloc’s foreign policy. It would host an expert’s pool by bringing in desk officers working at the European Commission, area experts… »

Russian Analytical Digest No. 82: The Russian Far East

(PDF) – in this issue:
*Putin Is Turning Vladivostok into Russia’s Pacific Capital

*Population Statistics of the Russian Far East

*Russian Opinions on Vigilante Killings of Members of the Militia in… »

Cocaine and Instability in Africa: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean – Africa Center for Strategic Studies

(PDF) – The dollar value of cocaine trafficked through West Africa has risen rapidly and surpassed all other illicit commodities smuggled in the subregion. Experience from Latin America and the Caribbean demonstrates that cocaine traffic contributes to dramatically higher levels of violence and instability. Co-opting key government officials is the preferred modus operandi of Latin… »

The Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization: Origin, Development and Outlook – ADB Institute

This paper discusses the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM); its origin, development and future outlook. It puts forward a number of proposals to make the liquidity support role of the CMIM more effective. It is further argued that the CMIM can bring about major changes to the policy institutional infrastructure of the East Asia region,… »

Lack of Transparency in Russian Energy Trade – CSIS

A major challenge to the new democracies of Central Europe is the corruption and lack of transparency in the importing of oil and natural gas from Russia and other energy producing states once part of the Soviet Union. This situation also undermines good governance and ethical business practices in the large and wealthier countries of… »

A transatlantic defence market, forever elusive? – CER

(PDF) – EU member-states and the US would benefit from more open defence markets across the Atlantic. Military forces would find it easier to co-operate in the field, governments could pay less for defence goods, and the transatlantic relationship would be strengthened. But markets remain fragmented. States are often more concerned with creating jobs than… »

Squeezing Iran: Oil and sanctions – Bbc

Sanctions were imposed by the US after the seizure of American hostages in the aftermath of the revolution, and the 1980 Iran-Iraq war. In recent years a fresh wave of UN sanctions has attempted to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But what effect have these measures actually had on the country and its… »

The Development Fund for Iraq / July 27, 2010 – SIGIR

(PDF) – Weaknesses in DoD’s financial and management controls left it unable to properly account for $8.7 billion of the $9.1 billion in DFI funds it received for reconstruction activities in Iraq. This situation occurred because most DoD organizations receiving DFI funds did not establish the required Department of the Treasury accounts and no DoD… »

Israel is impeding Palestinian forces’ training, says US – the Independent

Israeli-caused delays to the transfer of weapons, radios, vehicles, helmets and other equipment are hampering American efforts to train Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, according to an official report by Washington’s Government Accountability Office (GAO). Despite Israel’s own public praise of the enhanced effectiveness of security forces deployed by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority,… »

China Building Africa’s Economic Infrastructure: SEZs and Railroads – China Brief

Chinese policymakers see in Africa possible solutions to some of China’s most pressing problems, for instance, Beijing’s need to secure access to energy resources and other vital minerals to sustain the country’s rapid economic growth. Yet Chinese interests in Africa extend beyond energy resources and minerals and clearly include markets, infrastructure development and agriculture. China’s… »

Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) VOL. 4 (2) – SPRING 2010

in this issue:
Russian Energy Politics and the EU: How to Change the Paradigm

*Authoritarianism and Foreign Policy: The Twin Pillars of Resurgent Russia

*The Georgia Crisis: A New Cold War on the Horizon?

*Enforceability of a Common Energy Supply Security Policy in the EU: Intergovernmentalist Assesement

*“Assembling” a Civic Nation in Kazakhstan: The Nation-Building Role of… »

Kyrgyzstan receives donor pledges of $1.1bn to rebuild – Bbc

International donors have pledged $1.1bn (£643m) in aid to Kyrgyzstan at a conference in Bishkek.
The money will be used to fund reconstruction in the Central Asian state following deadly ethnic violence in the south last… »

US involvement only complicates South China Sea issue – China Daily

The United States has played up the South China Sea issue again in the international arena. At the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Hanoi last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked at length about US “national interests” in the South China Sea. Hintting there is what she called “coercion” in the… »

Turkey Steps Up Support for Strategic Azerbaijani Exclave of Nakhchivan – EurasiaNet

Longtime Azerbaijani ally Turkey appears to be taking on a larger role in supporting the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an Azerbaijani exclave sandwiched between Armenia and Iran. The first steps in this intensified cooperation are taking shape just months after plans for rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia went into cold storage. Turkey, which shares an 11-kilometer… »

“Free Trade in Natural Resources Bad for Development” – IPS

While some believe that restrictions on natural resource exports should be done away with, this could cause an increase in such exports that would be detrimental to the environment and bad for development. Many African countries follow the strategy of exporting as much as they can and, since they are uncompetitive in manufactures and services,… »

India’s Nuclear Push: The Conflicts Within – Asia Sentinel

After years of years of negotiations and sustained backing from the US government to find acceptance as a global nuclear power, India’s plans to go nuclear for a major share of its energy production are in limbo, stalled by the refusal of the Lok Sabha, the country’s lower house of parliament, to pass legislation limiting… »

Could Egypt and Sudan’s 55-year feud be over? – the Nation

Egypt and Sudan are weighing plans to create a co-operative economic zone in Egypt’s southern Halaib Triangle, an underdeveloped and impoverished region that both governments have quietly feuded over for years. The long-simmering dispute over the triangle, a 20,580-sq-km region wedged between Sudan and the Red Sea, came to the fore again on June… »

The Russian-Iranian road map – the Hindu

The mixed signals on Iran that Russia has been sending in recent days have puzzled many western analysts. A little over a month after it went along with the United States in supporting tougher sanctions on Iran, Moscow signed a framework pact on wide-ranging cooperation with Tehran in hydrocarbons and announced a similar plan for… »

Why India needs Myanmar on its side – Rediff

Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar’s head of State, is currently on his second visit to India in six years. He comes at a time the international community has initiated the first steps to gradually open up to Myanmar and elections are due in that country later this year. India’s relations with Myanmar, a devoutly Buddhist… »

Let’s hope that China and the United States won’t miscalculate – the Daily Star

For several years, the United States has pressed China to revalue its currency. They complain that the undervalued renminbi represents unfair competition, destroying American jobs, and contributing to the United States’ trade deficit. How, then, should US officials respond? Just before the recent G-20 meeting in Toronto, China announced a formula that would allow modest… »

Kabul War Diary – Wikileaks

WikiLeaks today released over 75,000 secret US military reports covering the war in Afghanistan.
The Afghan War Diary an extraordinary secret compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. The reports describe the majority of lethal military actions involving the United States military. They include the number of persons… »

The United States Announces Phase II of the Signature Energy Program for Pakistan – US Department of State

After the bilateral Strategic Dialogue meeting in Islamabad today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Phase II of the U.S. Signature Energy Program for Pakistan that will provide an additional $60 million for seven projects to be implemented by USAID, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and… »

The United States Announces the Signature Water Program for Pakistan – US Department of State

After the bilateral Strategic Dialogue meeting in Islamabad today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a multi-year Signature Water Program for Pakistan to improve Pakistan’s ability to increase efficient management and use of its scarce water resources and improve water distribution. The first phase of the program will cover seven projects costing over… »

China Rejects U.S. Suggestion for Asean Mediation on Territory – Wall Street Journal

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi rebutted remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a recent forum on the competing claims for territory in the South China Sea, saying the U.S. shouldn’t internationalize the disputes, according to a statement posted Sunday on the website of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The South China Sea… »

Iran signs 1.3 billion dollar gas pipeline deal with Turkey – Zawya

Iran has signed a 1.3 billion-dollar deal with a Turkish firm to build a pipeline for gas exports of 60 million cubic metres (2.1 billion cubic feet) a day in three years, press reports said. “The contract to build a gas pipeline stretching 660 kilometres (410 miles) and worth one billion euros was signed in… »

Iraqi Oil Fields Development: Profiles Of Production, Depletion And Revenue – MEES

Between November 2008 and May 2010 the Iraqi Ministry of Oil signed 12 long term technical service contracts covering 14 oil fields. The oil field projects fall in two categories: brown-field and green-fields developments. The brown-field projects are Rumaila, West Qurna Phase 1 (WQ1), Zubair and the Misan group (the Buzorgan, Abu Ghirab and Fawqa… »

Burma’s Than Shwe welcomed in Delhi – Bbc

Reclusive Burmese junta leader General Than Shwe has received a red carpet welcome in the Indian capital on a state visit condemned by rights groups. He met Indian PM Manmohan Singh in Delhi on a rare five-day trip that aims to deepen the economic and strategic ties between the two nations. Officials from the two… »

Motivazioni e ricadute delle nuove direttrici di politica estera dell’Azerbaigian – ISPI

(PDF) – L’Azerbaigian ha tradizionalmente costituito il principale interlocutore euro-atlantico nella regione del Caucaso meridionale. A fondare la rilevanza regionale di Baku hanno contribuito principal-mente le considerevoli risorse di petrolio e gas di cui il paese dispone e, più in generale, il potenziale ruolo di snodo territoriale per lo sviluppo di un corridoio energetico tra… »

Land grab or development opportunity? Agricultural investment and international land deals in Africa – IIED

Large-scale acquisitions of farmland in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia are making headlines in a flurry of media reports across the world. Lands that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest are now being sought by international investors by the tune of hundreds of thousands of hectares. And while… »

Communique of the International Conference on Afghanistan – MEMRI

On July 20, foreign ministers and diplomats from 70 countries and international organizations attended the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul. The conference backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s peace initiative with the Taliban, noting that the peace move is aimed at those militants who are willing to renounce violence and respect the Afghan constitution. At… »

Who Will Pay for the Afghan Military? – the Huffington Post

America’ current strategy is not to train the minimum force of 582,000, but to double the number of Afghan security personnel to 400,000. This will cost significant American blood and treasure to achieve, but Afghan will and funds to maintain. 400,000 Afghan security personnel will cost Afghanistan at least 15% of its GDP, far and… »

The World’s Ever-Increasing Hunger for Coal – Der Spiegel

Coal-fired power stations are a major producer of the greenhouse gas CO2, but there is no alternative to the fuel in the near future. Energy companies are hoping that carbon capture and storage technologies may be the answer, but many local residents don’t want CO2 stored under their… »

An End to Gaza’s (Literally) Underground Economy – the Atlantic

As Israeli consumer goods saturate Gaza’s markets, the tunnels have lost their clientele. Smugglers understand that their days are numbered, but there’s nothing to replace the jobs the industry provided – by Sarah A…. »

Joint conclusion of the EU-OPEC Energy Dialogue – OPEC

The seventh ministerial-level meeting of the Energy Dialogue between the European Union (EU) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) took place in Brussels. The participants reiterated their mutual interest in stable, transparent, and predictable oil markets. The meeting also repeated its conviction that, in order to minimise the risk of facing excessive… »

Fighting Zimbabwe’s ‘blood diamond’ greed – Toronto Star

A country economically and politically deranged, soaked in violence for the past decade, has now fallen under the diabolical thrall of gem lucre. Zimbabwe is sitting on vast diamond resources, potentially one-quarter of the world’s unmined stones lying beneath the weird geological rock formations of the Marange diamond fields, 48 kilometres from Mutare and discovered… »

Mobile Firms in Africa Get Spotty Reception – BusinessWeek

Over the last few years the world’s major mobile operators have arrived on the continent. In March, India’s Bharti Airtel paid $9 billion to acquire Zain Africa’s assets in 15 countries. The U.K.’s Vodafone (VOD) has spent $3.4 billion on deals in Africa, and France Telecom (FTE) expects to spend as much as $8.8 billion… »

Disaster Politics – Foreign affairs

Governments cannot prevent earthquakes and other natural disasters, but they can prepare for them and ameliorate their effects. Measures to do so are well known. That so many countries in earthquake-prone regions of the world fail to adequately regulate construction, for example, seems to defy logic. It is tempting to suggest that a country’s ability… »

Le infrastrutture energetiche e di trasporto nel Mediterraneo – ISPI

(PDF) – Le riserve di idrocarburi del Maghreb ammontano a circa 8 miliardi di tonnellate (Mt) di petrolio e a 8.500 miliardi di metri cubi (bcm) di gas naturale. Queste risorse sono concentrate prevalentemente in Algeria e in Libia, che possiedono l’88% delle riserve di petrolio (Libia 5,6 miliardi di tonnellate, Algeria 1,4 miliardi) e… »

The Washington Consensus: Assessing a Damaged Brand – CGD

It is hard to overemphasize the practical and ideological importance of the Washington Consensus in Latin America. The Decalogue of Consensus policies laid out by John Williamson in his 1989 landmark paper became in the minds of advocates and pundits alike a manifesto for capitalist economic development. For its advocates, the Consensus reflected a doctrine… »

Hong Kong Journal – n.19 july 2010

The Hong Kong Journal is a quarterly, online publication about political, economic and social issues relating to Hong Kong and its neighborhood. Foundation-financed, it is hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in… »