President Barack Obama is preparing to embark on a historic visit to Cuba, making the future of the communist-ruled island the subject of widespread speculation. Some observers are hoping that the ong ...More
EJ Insight2016-03-07
Over the past two weeks, I have heard and read many questions, comments and news stories regarding recent changes to the government of the United Arab Emirates. Why, everyone seems to want to know, di ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-29
The global oil-price bust has devastated economies across the Middle East and North Africa. Having seen severe price declines in the past, many leaders in the region may be tempted to wait for prices ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-22
Developing countries are bracing for a major slowdown this year. According to the UN report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016, their growth will average only 3.8 percent this year -- the low ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-19
When identifying threats to Himalayan ecosystems, China stands out. For years, the People’s Republic has been engaged in frenzied damming of rivers and unbridled exploitation of mineral wealth on the ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-18
Over the past few decades, oil prices have fluctuated widely, ranging from US$10 to US$140 a barrel and posing a challenge to producers and consumers alike. For policymakers, however, these fluctuatio ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-16
With China, Russia, and the United States fine-tuning anti-satellite (ASAT) warfare capabilities, the third round of competition to “seize the high ground” of space is well under way. This round is di ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-11
For months now, China’s exchange-rate policy has been roiling global financial markets. More precisely, confusion about that policy has been roiling the markets. Chinese officials have done a poor job ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-11
The Red Sea has played a pivotal role in global trade for millennia. In the time of the pharaohs, it was at the heart of the global spice trade. Today, it is an essential global artery, feeding Wester ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-11
US politics has been captured by terrorists. In December, polls showed that one in six Americans, about 16 percent of the population, now identify terrorism as the most important national problem, up ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-05
Since 2016 began, the prospect of a major devaluation of China’s renminbi has been hanging over global markets like the Sword of Damocles. No other source of policy uncertainty has been as destabilizi ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-03
Currency market volatility has been around for decades, if not centuries. Wide gyrations in exchange rates became a staple of international financial markets after the Bretton Woods system broke down ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-01
The Chinese economy has caught a surprisingly severe cold this winter – a cold so bad that almost all global markets are sneezing. During the first two weeks of 2016, the Shanghai Composite Index fell ...More
EJ Insight2016-02-01
China's shift from export-driven growth to a model based on domestic services and household consumption has been much bumpier than some anticipated, with stock-market gyrations and exchange-rate volat ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-28
Technological innovation has long triggered diametrically opposed reactions: awe of new possibilities for some; for others, fear of disruptive change. But most of us don’t even realize what is happeni ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-22
With the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index down more than 40 percent since last June, investors worldwide are watching the decline with growing concern -- but not because they are invested in th ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-20
Since its introduction by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the “one belt, one road” initiative – an ambitious plan to revitalize the ancient Silk Road overland and maritime trade routes linking E ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-18
The Muslim world’s past contributions to science and education were extraordinary. The Islamic “golden age” – during which scholarship and learning flourished across the Muslim world – lasted many cen ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-14
Until recently, the usual thinking among macroeconomists has been that short-term weather fluctuations don’t matter much for economic activity. Construction hiring may be stronger than usual in March ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-12
The recent decline in China’s currency, the renminbi, which has fueled turmoil in Chinese stock markets and drove the government to suspend trading twice last week, highlights a major challenge facing ...More
EJ Insight2016-01-12
