Trade & Globalization

Our Urban Future

Ron Tang — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:45:00 -0400

Half of the world’s population now lives in cities, a number that will climb to 75% by the middle of the century. This development marks a radical break in human history, for humanity has until recently been overwhelmingly rural, concerned first and foremost with brute survival.

In “The Communist Manifesto,” Karl Marx referred to “the idiocy of rural life” -- or so the mistranslation goes -- as an enduring problem. In fact, Marx wasn’t talking about “idiocy” at all. Rather, he was referring to the isolation and stasis of rural life, and how it had long stymied creativity and the diffusion… more

Michael Shtender-Auerbach

Operations — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:43:00 -0400

Co-Director, Law and Globalization InitiativeMichael Shtender-Auerbach is co-director of New America’s Law and Globalization Initiative. He is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Social Risks LLC. He holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from Columbia University and has studied at Cyprus College, Hebrew University, and the New School for Social Research. A leading figure in high technology, Mr. Auerbach founded several companies and worked for blue chip new media companies. As Executive Producer of Pseudo Programs, Mr. Auerbach pioneered the use of online media for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. A camera from the convention floor was inducted into… more

Michael B. Likosky

Operations — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:34:00 -0400

Co-Director, Law and Globalization InitiativeMichael B. Likosky is co-director of New America’s Law and Globalization Initiative. He holds a doctorate from the Law Faculty of Oxford University and a JD from Yeshiva University. He is Principal at Social Risks LLC and also Reader in International Economic Law in the Law School at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He has been John and Mary R. Markle Foundation Fellow at Oxford University and Global Crystal Eastman Research Fellow at New York University School of Law. Mr. Likosky has published four books on International Economic Law, including Law, Infrastructure and… more

Here Comes the Second World

Ron Tang — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:42:00 -0400

This article is adapted from Parag Khanna's book The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order.

The term "second world" has fallen out of use. It used to mean countries of the socialist world; today I use the phrase to refer to those countries in eastern Europe and central Asia, Latin America, the middle east and southeast Asia which are both rich and poor, developed and underdeveloped, postmodern and pre-modern, cosmopolitan and tribal -- all at the same time. This is not a temporary state between third world and first, but a permanent condition in which… more

Confessions Of a Sweatshop Inspector

Ron Tang — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:53:00 -0400

I remember one particularly bad factory in China. It produced outdoor tables, parasols, and gazebos, and the place was a mess. Work floors were so crowded with production materials that I could barely make my way from one end to the other. In one area, where metals were being chemically treated, workers squatted at the edge of steaming pools as if contemplating a sudden, final swim. The dormitories were filthy: the hallways were strewn with garbage -- orange peels, tea leaves -- and the only way for anyone to bathe was to fill a bucket with cold water. In a… more

Parag Khanna in Financial Express | India Doesn’t Count Yet

Communications — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:59:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Financial Express | India Doesn’t Count Yet

US — a second world nation? The thought may be radical to most, but that’s exactly what Parag Khanna, fellow at New America Foundation argues in The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order, saying the 21st century will be dominated by three first-world superpowers: the United States, China and the European Union. And they will compete for resources in nations in east Europe, Latin America and West Asia — countries of the second world. Suman Tarafdar tries to figure out where the world is headed.

Financial Express: Why do you see the US becoming a second world state? Where did it fail to read the geopolitical mutiny?

Parag Khanna: The US did fail to read the ways in which pivotal second world states such as Iran and Venezuela could stand up to the US and sustain their defiance, not to mention the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. America’s imperial overstretch is palpable in its Economy that has been weakened by the war and exposed other domestic vulnerabilities such as a crumbling infrastructure, declining health and education standards, and deep political divisions. Those latter factors are hallmarks of second world countries.

Financial Express: The ‘deep differences in interests among the big three make forging a “culture of peace” difficult,’ yet the three are also bound to each other by economic ties. Where does the resolution lie?

Parag Khanna: A “culture of peace” can have several sources, such as mutual economic dependence in investment and trade, and also the reality of nuclear deterrence. It could be that rather than defining their interests in divergent terms — such as in the pursuit of exclusive access to oil and gas resources — powerful states such as China, India and America could focus on expanding supply through joint exploration and development. One sees this happening already between Japan, China, and Korea in the waters between them. Also, there are issues such as terrorism and climate that affect all powers as well, and need to be addressed jointly. . .

What High Oil Prices Can Do For a Country

Ron Tang — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:43:00 -0400

From the outside, Effat College doesn't seem like a bellwether of change. The all-girls school in Jeddah, a port city on the coast of the Red Sea, is rimmed by unscalable high walls and an empty parking lot, resembling the scene of a freshly departed circus in Middle America. In many ways, the college's exterior illustrates conventional misperceptions -- closed, drab, and unwelcoming -- of modern Saudi Arabia. Perhaps the only thing less inviting is the bold, red lettering at the top of the form handed to visitors as they enter the kingdom, which reads: "WARNING: Death to Drug Traffickers."

But… more

Parag Khanna on NPR | America's Waning Influence in 'The Second World'

Communications — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:04:00 -0400

New America in the News:

NPR | America's Waning Influence in 'The Second World'

Parag Khanna believes that America's dominant moment is over. In his new book, "The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order," he argues that the 21st centruy will be dominated by three first-world superpowers: the United States, China and the European Union. . .

America's Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Hegemony

Communications — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
03/12/2008 - 3:00pm

With the United States and China, who will rule whom? That's the central question of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Tokyo-based journalist and writer Eamonn Fingleton. His own answer is sobering. As American leaders fixate on the Middle East, China quietly consolidates both its geostrategic vision and its economic and military power. What is at stake is far more important than manufacturing jobs or the transparency of Sovereign Wealth Funds. It is a matter of which nation will control the global system America built, and the nations integrated into that system.

Fingleton has lived and worked in Asia since the mid 1980s, and he has covered international economics and business since the 1970s. The American ruling elite, he says, does not understand China, nor the nature of the Chinese government. Most members of the elite continue to believe - a la Tom Friedman - that liberal trade will liberalize China. But Fingleton writes that what is taking place is the exact opposite. "Globalization" has merely given Beijing the financial and institutional tools to get what it wants from America, when it wants.

Over the years, Fingleton has repeatedly proven a prescient observer of international economic trends. In the late 1980s he predicted the crash of the Japanese banking system and stock market. In the late 1990s he predicted the crash of the high-technology boom, and the subsequent shift of real power back to those who control production and supply. His articles have been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Harvard Business Review, among others. In the Jaws of the Dragon is Fingleton's fourth major book on trans-Pacific industrial and trading relationships.

Join the New America Foundation and Eamonn Fingleton for a provocative and disturbing look at America's economic and political relationship with China, followed by a Q&A session moderated by Barry C. Lynn.

Watching Sovereign Wealth

Ron Tang — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

When the adjectives most often used to describe you are "secretive," "opaque" and "mysterious," you've got an image problem. Such is the predicament of sovereign wealth funds, the government-controlled investment vehicles, often in authoritarian states, that have become the bane of Western politicians. Yesterday, the European Commission became the latest body to propose transparency guidelines for these funds.

But the good news for sovereign wealth funds is that increased disclosure and transparency may actually be a win-win for everyone. A little openness can go a long way.

Market participants and regulators would benefit by gaining some insight into potential contagion risks and… more