New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus, March 23, 2012 (photo by Flickr user yuwenmemon licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license).

Earlier this month, a professor from New York University was barred from entering the United Arab Emirates, where the school recently opened a new campus, after he criticized the country’s labor practices. In an email interview, Stephen Wilkins, director of the integrated doctoral program in business and management at Plymouth University and the former director for professional management programs at Dubai University College, discussed the challenges facing satellite campuses of Western universities. WPR: What are the motivations for establishing satellite campuses of Western universities in places like China and the Persian Gulf, both for the schools and the host countries? […]

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif walks into another negotiating meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry over Iran’s nuclear program, Lausanne, Switzerland, March 18, 2015 (AP photo by Brian Snyder).

As negotiators in the Iran nuclear talks strive to meet the March 31 deadline for a framework agreement, which is supposed to be followed by a more detailed implementation package by June, critical external players like Israel and the U.S. Congress have been expressing loud opposition to a deal that they perceive as too lenient on Tehran. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’ expression last week of similar concerns highlights the fact that differences exist even among the six powers—the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China—that are negotiating with Iran. In this context, the quiet if conditional support offered by […]

Chinese workers walk past the No. 1 reactor at the Ningde Nuclear Power Plant in Ningde city, Fujian province, China, April 18, 2013 (Imaginechina via AP Images).

In February, China’s State Council announced the approval of two new nuclear reactors at the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in the northeastern province of Liaoning, underscoring Beijing’s intention to move forward with an ambitious nuclear power plant construction program despite the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in neighboring Japan. In the wake of that accident, when other players slowed and in some case scuttled nuclear development, China limited itself to holding off on approving new reactors while safety procedures throughout the country’s nuclear facilities were reviewed. However, none of China’s 24 nuclear reactors already in operation were shut down, and ongoing […]

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a cricket match, Islamabad, Pakistan, Nov. 15, 2014 (AP photo by B.K. Bangash).

Reports over the past three months suggest that Pakistani military leaders and Afghan officials are renewing efforts to open direct talks between the Taliban and Kabul. Though these steps show signs of promise and should be supported by U.S. policymakers, expectations about the talks’ prospects for a swift resolution to the Afghanistan War should be measured, given the history of breakdowns of past efforts and the potential for spoilers on all sides to derail them. The last bid for peace talks, supported by the U.S. State Department and facilitated by Qatar, was abandoned in 2013 after Afghanistan’s then-President Hamid Karzai […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting, Beijing, China, Nov. 11, 2014 (AP photo by Ng Han Guan).

How do the crisis in Ukraine and the political situation in Russia look when viewed through the prism of Chinese media? The familiar Western narrative of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a dictator responsible for destabilizing Ukraine and snuffing out domestic dissent takes on a far different coloring. The appeal of the Chinese version of events elsewhere in the world could help explain why U.S. and Western efforts to marginalize Putin and Russia on the world stage have met with little success. At the Naval War College on Monday, Christopher Marsh, professor of national security and strategic studies at the […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena walk after paying homage to Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, March 14, 2015 (AP photo Eranga Jayawardena).

Last week was an auspicious time for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to culminate his three-country tour around the Indian Ocean with the first visit by an Indian leader to Sri Lanka in three decades. Given the island nation’s shifting political landscape following the surprising defeat of its two-term president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in early January, the milestone represented by Modi’s visit Friday and Saturday was further amplified by the trip’s geopolitical importance. Under Rajapaksa’s leadership, Sri Lanka ended a civil war that lasted nearly three decades. But his rule was plagued by corruption, nepotism, the centralization of power and increasingly […]

Myanmar army soldiers patrol on a road in Kokang, northeastern Shan State, more than 500 miles northeast of Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 17, 2015 (AP Photo/Eleven Media Group).

Since taking office in 2011 after decades of iron-fisted military rule, Myanmar’s quasi-civilian government has faced the challenge of opening up a country long closed to the outside world and delivering on the promise of domestic reform. But it faces major security obstacles, too, in the long-running ethnic rebellions on its borders with India and China, one of which escalated last month in clashes that killed more than 50 Myanmarese troops and 70 Kokang rebels in northern Myanmar. The Kokang and other ethnic rebels have fought for greater autonomy, federalism or control over natural resources in their corners of Myanmar […]

Titan 2 intercontinental ballistic missile, Titan Missile Museum, Arizona, May 7, 2007 (photo by Flickr user kingdafy, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license).

The Ninth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which begins next month, promises to be much more contentious than the previous 5-year review conference held in 2010. However, with a good game plan both before and during the conference, U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration can limit the damage to U.S. interests and the nonproliferation regime. Such a game plan should include reaffirming Washington’s commitment to eventual nuclear disarmament; highlighting the United States’ NPT-related achievements in some areas, even if admittedly limited; focusing attention on long-term future possibilities rather than past failures; blaming the relevant responsible actors for missed […]

A Buddhist monk and a woman walk past a line of Thai soldiers guarding the Victory Monument to prevent anti-coup demonstrations, Bangkok, Thailand, May 30, 2014 (AP photo by Wason Wanichakorn).

Southeast Asia confronts a diverse range of challenges, from the need for reform in Indonesia to the erosion of democracy in Thailand. Some countries in the region are battling insurgencies at home, while others attempt to counter China’s rising influence abroad. This report draws on articles covering the region over the past year. Governance, Reform and Democracy Ruling Party the Only Significant Loser in Indonesia’s Parliamentary ElectionsBy Andrew ThornleyApr. 25, 2014 For Jokowi, Maintaining Indonesia’s Role Abroad Depends on Domestic ReformBy Prashanth ParameswaranAug. 4, 2014 Jokowi’s Test: Managing Indonesia’s Old Guard—and Civil Society’s HopesBy Sue Gunawardena-VaughnAug. 19, 2014 Corruption Concerns […]