Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou at the Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore, Nov. 7, 2015 (AP photo by Wong Maye-E).

Much ink has been spilled on the meeting earlier this month between Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, and the leader of China, Xi Jinping. The fact that the two got together for a handshake and a grin is no doubt a big deal. But, at least in terms of marking a major milestone along the road to better relations, nothing happened to warrant all this attention. For the most part, despite the pageantry, the meeting changed little. On the other hand, because the gulf between China and Taiwan is as wide as ever, that should have everyone, but especially Chinese policymakers, […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, talks with Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China, March 30, 2015 (AP photo by Feng Li).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of falling oil and commodities prices on resource-exporting countries. Zambia’s economy, which relies heavily on copper and its derivate products, is coming under strain as commodity prices drop and foreign investments wane. Worse, China’s economic slowdown has also weakened Zambia’s growth, as the two countries are close trading partners. In an email interview, Irmgard Erasmus, a fixed-income economist at NKC African Economics, discussed the risks for its economy. WPR: How important are commodities for the Zambian economy, and what effect have falling commodity prices had on […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after signing an agreement to create the Eurasian Economic Union, Astana, Kazakhstan, May 29, 2014 (AP photo by Mikhail Klimentyev).

The war in Afghanistan has been both a boon and curse for neighboring Central Asia. The conflict placed this sparsely populated region, long disconnected from the globalization taking place around its borders, on the front lines of the international community’s 15-year effort to stabilize Afghanistan. Central Asia became a staging point for coalition military forces, a transit corridor, a donor as well as a recipient of aid and at times a pawn in a larger strategic competition playing out between the United States and Russia. The region also found itself on the receiving end of Afghanistan’s noxious exports: extremism, drugs […]