Ambassador Viswanathan, an expert on Latin America, blogs about the Venezuelan elections, which saw a high turnout, free and fair elections, and Hugo Chavez re-elected as President. It is evident though, that Chavez’s model has reached its peak and is steadily and irreversibly losing appeal in the region.
Courtesy: Anna Frodesiak/WikimediaCommons
China's legal system is more formalized and better functioning than many realize. Still, given the Chinese Communist Party's lock on judicial power, the country still has work to do.
Courtesy: Taimi Media
Taimi Online, a Tonga based news website republished Gateway House's Tevita Motulalo's piece on the strategic importance of the Pacific Islands. He argues that having control over large resource-rich ocean areas have made these small island-states increasingly geostrategic.
Courtesy: VOA/WikimediaCommons
In a recent speech, U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticised incumbent President Barack Obama's foreign policies, and called for U.S. supremacy. However, it seems apparent that Romney wouldn’t usher in a foreign policy revolution if elected.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Jeffrey D. Sachs argues that the mono-causal analysis of the book, 'Why Nations Fail,’ – that economic development hinges on a country’s political institutions – ignores important factors (such as geography) that can also affect growth.
Courtesy: South African Foreign Policy Initiative
The South African Foreign Policy Initiative republished Gateway House's Hari Seshasayee's interview of Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani. They discussed India’s prospects in Latin America with regard to food and energy security.
The Indian Express quoted Gateway House's Manjeet Kripalani in its article on Tim Sebastian's new show 'The Outsider' which features debates on topics like corruption. She argues that corruption is led by the corporate elite who walk hand in hand with the politicians.
Courtesy: Patrick Gruban/WikimediaCommons
Is a focus on a nuclear Iran in international forums such as the UN General Assembly necessary and appropriate? At a time when other crises – including Syria and Palestine – require the world’s undivided attention, this inordinate focus raises major concerns.
Courtesy: Rusty Darbonne/Austen Hufford
The biggest change in the first U.S. presidential debate for 2012 was the way both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney moderated differences about government and the private sector. Foreign policy came up only briefly, but it will be a theme during the next round of debates later this month.
Courtesy: trendscout::/Flickr
All the major economic forces in the world have come together in Africa in a new version of the Great Game. The competition for the continent’s resources will ultimately harm Africa unless Africa uses this opportunity to its advantage and to address its own serious problems.