Economics & Business Archive

In late June, Israel and Turkey struck a long-awaited deal to normalize diplomatic ties, ending the six-year chill sparked by Israel’s raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed eight Turks and an American citizen of Turkish origin. Under the deal, Israel will allocate $20 million for compensation of the victims’ families. As ties are restored, each country will return its ambassador, and the two sides could even enter talks on a natural gas pipeline. Turkey, for its part, will halt all criminal or civil claims against Israeli military personnel involved in the raid. Shortly after the deal was signed, a […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on a range of countries’ space priorities and programs. Researchers at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University have developed technology that will help collect space junk, which they hope to have operational in 2017. In an email interview, Keith Gottschaik, professor at the University of the Western Cape and founding member of the South African Space Association, discusses South Africa’s space program. WPR: What are South Africa’s space capabilities, in terms of its domestic public and private space-industrial complex, and who are its major international partners, in terms of space diplomacy […]

The result of the United Kingdom’s referendum on its membership in the European Union was a shock, even to leaders of the “leave” campaign, exposing a lack of planning for the new British relationship with Europe. Amid the turbulence of Brexit, less attention has been paid to its geopolitical effects. But on the key issues of Russia, Syria, China and trade, Brexit will have direct and significant impacts. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s purported desire for Britain to leave the EU was a debating point during the referendum campaign. While Putin’s public statements on the outcome suggest mild approval, private sources […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the challenges of building sustainable peace in former conflict zones. For the Report, Ilan Noy joins us to talk about preparing for and recovering from natural disasters. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: Why This Time’s Different for the Border Clashes Between Ethiopia and Eritrea A Year After Algiers Accord, Flexibility Is the Key to Durable Peace in Mali Instability the Norm in Central African Republic as Rebel Violence Surges New Ways of Defining Success in Post-Disaster Recovery Trend Lines is produced, […]

Last month, officials from Indonesia and Australia met in Sydney, where they agreed to increase counterterrorism cooperation and information-sharing in response to the growing threat from the so-called Islamic State. In an email interview, Greta Nabbs-Keller, the manager of Indonesia programs at the University of Queensland’s international development unit, discusses the current state of Australia-Indonesia relations. WPR: How have ties with Indonesia evolved under the administration of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and to what extent have the two sides been able to move past recent tensions over Australia’s asylum policy and Indonesia’s execution of Australian drug smugglers? Greta Nabbs-Keller: […]

If one had to choose the biggest loser in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, globalized free trade would be as good a place as any to start. Among Republican and Democratic candidates, free trade deals have become the red-headed stepchildren of the 2016 campaign. For the presidential bids of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, they are the biggest proverbial punching bags. Even Hillary Clinton, a long-time free trader and the presumptive Democratic nominee, has been forced to back away from her support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal. But much of the criticism of liberalized […]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in China earlier this month, her ninth trip there since taking office, to discuss trade relations, rule of law concerns and the South China Sea disputes. In an email interview, Klaus Larres, a professor at the University of North Carolina, discussed Germany’s ties with China. WPR: How have Germany’s economic and political ties with China evolved since Merkel came to office, and in what areas are both sides looking to expand ties? Klaus Larres: Since the 1980s, under Chancellors Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroeder, ties between China and Germany have become increasingly close. Schroeder traveled […]

The year 2010 started with two large earthquakes less than two months apart. The strongest one, by far, was the earthquake in February in Concepcion, Chile, that killed about 250 people. Unfortunately, the earthquake also generated a tsunami, and since an adequate early warning was not issued along the Chilean coast, the tsunami ended up doubling the death toll. A month before, however, a much weaker earthquake shook another coastal city on the other side of the Americas: Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Tragically and catastrophically, many of the city’s buildings collapsed, and the death toll may have reached more than a quarter […]

Perhaps more than they have with regard to any other region of the world, pundits, political scientists and foreign ministries have latched on with an astounding vigor to the notion that the Arctic is an entirely peaceful region, ruled by laws and largely immune to geopolitical shocks. The United States’ 2013 Arctic Strategy is prefaced with the assertion that “the Arctic region is peaceful, stable, and free of conflict.” Indeed, the very possibility of conflict there is so beyond the pale that the Arctic Council—the primary organ of governance in the region—is precluded by its mandate from addressing military security. […]

At the foundations of the major crises that have rocked Europe over the past three years can be found questions of geo-economics. Whether in the Russian intervention in Ukraine in 2014, the migration crisis that began in earnest in 2015, or last week’s decision of British voters to approve an exit from the European Union, governments and peoples are making choices as to what sources of human capital, raw material and manufacturing potential, as well as which larger economic groupings, they wish to be associated with. The neat division of the world into largely self-sufficient Westphalian states defined by clear […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the backlash against liberalized trade in the context of the Brexit referendum. For the Report, Abigail Higgins joins us to talk about the challenges Nairobi’s rapid urbanization poses to daily life. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: In Dealing a Blow Against Globalization, Brexit Highlights Interconnectedness Is the Global Middle Class Really Here to Stay? The TPP Is the Last, Best Opportunity for New Global Trade Rules The Grass-Roots Efforts That Will Help Nairobi Urbanize Quickly—and Well Trend Lines is produced, edited […]