By David Denoon
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the creation of five newly independent states in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Each of these states had been conquered by Imperial Russia and, subsequently, was tightly controlled by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The process of establishing themselves as truly autonomous states has been the central enterprise for these five countries in the last twenty-two years.
By Tim Anderson
The world has been deceived over the conflict in Syria. It was always a ‘regime change’ dirty war and never a popular uprising. The root of the deception was a cabal of western governments, media and NGOs on a war footing and using partisan sources linked to their proxy armies.
By Charles H. Camp and Theresa Bowman
Despite the unanimous agreement of United Nations member states to commit as an international community to global humanitarian relief, many countries are reflecting the discomfort their electorates have with offering asylum to the recent Syrian refugees. In this article, the authors discuss the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and argue that if the doctrine is to mean anything, the “international community” obliged to protect should be understood to include more than simply the U.N. member states themselves.
Only a few years ago, Brazil exemplified the BRIC dream of rapid growth. Now it is coping with its longest recession, loss of confidence, possibly a lost decade. Dan Steinbock explains what happened, and how and when Brazil could restore to its growth.
Barry Katz’s book Make it New: The History of Silicon Valley Design sets out to answer the question of how ‘design’ evolved from a marginal service to a strategic imperative. Drawing upon a vast array of original, primary-source materials it explains the role of design in transforming the fragrant orchards of Santa Clara County into the most powerful economic engine in the world.
Chinese e-commerce and communications companies are playing leading roles in the nation’s continued Internet development. These corporations are expanding their roles in e-commerce, communications apps, and other fields that both support economic growth and help to narrow the rural-urban digital divide.
In this article Manoel Bittencourt argues that corruption is killing economic growth and prosperity in Brazil. Using standard economic theory and data he shows that the demonstrations taking place in Brazil are a natural reaction of a population that wants a brighter present in “the country of the future”.
