Sinocism-China In The 21st Century. You’ve been Jiked! Imagine waking up one morning with a nagging compulsion to understand ideas that up to now have been entirely alien to you — concepts like democracy, freedom of speech or separation of powers.
Perhaps, the night previous, there were whispers at the next table about a man named “Liu Xiaobo” who harbored “dangerous” ideas of this sort. Liu who? But, pshaw! , how dangerous can ideas really be? You reach over to the bedside table and grab your mobile, knowing full well (as an internet literate Chinese “netizen”) that the answers are at your fingertips thanks to the miracle of search engine technology. The Nordic countries: The next supermodel. North Korea: Rumblings from below. The Myth of Authoritarian Growth by Dani Rodrik. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space CAMBRIDGE – On a recent Saturday morning, several hundred pro-democracy activists congregated in a Moscow square to protest government restrictions on freedom of assembly. They held up signs reading “31,” in reference to Article 31 of the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. They were promptly surrounded by policemen, who tried to break up the demonstration. A leading critic of the Kremlin and several others were hastily dragged into a police car and driven away. Events like this are an almost daily occurrence in Russia, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rules the country with a strong hand, and persecution of the government’s opponents, human-rights violations, and judicial abuses have become routine. What leaders like Putin understand less well is that their politics also compromise their countries’ economic future and global economic standing.
A Golden Rice Opportunity by Bjørn Lomborg. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space SÃO PAULO – Finally, after 12 years of delay caused by opponents of genetically modified (GM) foods, so-called “golden rice” with vitamin A will be grown in the Philippines. Over those 12 years, about eight million children worldwide died from vitamin A deficiency. Are anti-GM advocates not partly responsible?
7 worst international aid ideas. Trade Policy Priority One: Averting a U.S.-China "Trade War" Introduction An emerging narrative in 2012 is that a proliferation of protectionist, treaty-violating, or otherwise illiberal Chinese policies is to blame for worsening U.S.
-China relations. China trade experts from across the ideological and political spectra have lent credibility to that story. Business groups that once counseled against U.S. government actions that might be perceived by the Chinese as provocative have changed their tunes. The term “trade war” is no longer taboo. The media have portrayed the United States as a victim of underhanded Chinese practices, including currency manipulation, dumping, subsidization, intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, discriminatory “indigenous innovation” policies, export restrictions, industrial espionage, and other ad hoc impediments to U.S. investment and exports. Those agitating for tough policy actions should put down their battle bugles and consider that trade wars are never won. Privilege: A User's Guide - Gianpiero Petriglieri - HBS Faculty. By Gianpiero Petriglieri | 10:41 AM January 25, 2012 Have you ever been confronted with your privilege?
America's Best Leaders: Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO. She played lead guitar in an all-women rock band in her hometown of Madras, India.
She was a cricket player in college. She sang karaoke at corporate gatherings. Today, Indra Nooyi presides over 185,000 employees in nearly 200 countries as the chief executive of PepsiCo. And she still performs on stage at company functions. Nooyi came to the United States in 1978 at age 23 to earn her M.B.A. at Yale, where she worked as a dorm receptionist—opting for the graveyard shift because it paid an extra 50 cents per hour.
What Kind of Misfit Are You? - Umair Haque. By Umair Haque | 9:43 AM August 4, 2011 Here’s a confession that may surprise no one who regularly reads this blog: I’m a misfit.
And I always have been. And having spent a few decades on this planet as a slightly octagonal peg facing an endless vista of square, machine-made holes, I’ve developed a hypothesis about achievement. Moving Around Without Losing Your Roots - Gianpiero Petriglieri. Wang Lijun sentenced to 15 years in prison. CHENGDU, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese court on Monday sentenced Wang Lijun to 15 years in prison and deprived him of his political rights for one year after finding him guilty of bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking.
Wang, the former vice mayor and police chief of southwest China's Chongqing municipality, was charged with several crimes and received a combined punishment for all offenses, according to a verdict announced by the Chengdu City Intermediate People's Court in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The Souls of Chinese Cities - By Christina Larson. Traveling through modern Chinese cities at times feels a blur, the view from a bus or taxi window seemingly untethered from any past or even particularities of place.
In one sense, everything everywhere looks the same; it's easy to feel a little numb.