Financial Times (September 16)
“Fears of disruption following a Scottish vote for independence and intensifying conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have damaged prospects for the world economy,” according to the latest assessment of the OECD, which lowered growth forecasts for 2014 to 2.1% in the U.S., 0.9% in Japan and 0.8% in the eurozone.
Tags: Conflict, Disruption, Economy, eurozone, Independence, Japan, Middle East, OECD, Scotland, U.S., Ukraine, Vote
Institutional Investor (August 12)
“Disappointing sentiment data and continued conflict in eastern Ukraine” are leading to investor apprehension. “Slowing production levels and low inflation appear to leave the door open for European Central Bank intervention but political support for action from European Union leaders is still far from consensus. With a strong correlation between primary global equity indexes that has been noted by multiple strategists in recent sessions, deteriorating investor confidence in Europe is likely to cast a shadow over U.S. equity markets in the near term.”
Tags: Confidence, Conflict, Consensus, Disappointing, ECB, Equities, EU, Inflation, Intervention, Investors, Production, Sentiment, U.S., Ukraine
New York Times (January 23, 2014)
“It is hard to imagine a country more miserable than the Central African Republic.” Though potentially rich, the country has been repeatedly looted by previous leaders. Ongoing conflict has displaced a quarter of the population and claimed 1,000 lives since December. “So, to the degree to which they can offer any hope for this broken-down state, the announcement of a new interim president, a decision by the European Union to send a peacekeeping force and a pledge of half-a-billion dollars in humanitarian aid are all good news.”
Tags: Central African Republic, Conflict, EU, Humanitarian aid, Leaders, Looted, Peacekeeping force, Population, President, Rich
Bloomberg (January 7, 2014)
A war of words has been playing out in London’s Daily Telegraph where the ambassadors from China and Japan have been “using wildly undiplomatic language to characterize” each other’s countries. In op-ed pieces, they both, in turn, accused the other’s country of being “Lord Voldemort.” While the Harry Potter jibes seem comical, “the exchange is a troubling sign, and one that raises questions about whether commercial ties will be enough to prevent Asia’s two big powers from sliding toward outright conflict.”
Tags: Ambassadors, Asia, China, Commercial ties, Conflict, Daily Telegraph, Harry Potter, Japan, Language, London, Lord Voldemort, Undiplomatic, War
New York Times (November 1)
An ongoing border dispute between India and China has led to war and confrontation. A recent agreement, however, “gives both sides an incentive to review their now very different maps of the region and settle on a permanent border. Until that happens, the possibility of serious conflict remains very real.”
New York Times (July 23)
“To keep commerce going with China, Japan’s most important Asian trading partner, Mr. Abe has to stop rubbing raw the wounds of World War II. That includes not visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals from that conflict are honored. Nor should his government divert budget resources into military muscle flexing. Pushing into these politically contentious areas would erode the economic progress and promise of stable political leadership Mr. Abe has just worked so hard to achieve.”
Tags: Abe, Budget, China, Commerce, Conflict, Criminals, Government, Japan, Leadership, Military, Progress, Trading partner, World War II, Yasukuni
Reuters (March 16)
“In a break from months of saber rattling, China under new President Xi Jinping appears to be moderating its approach to a potentially explosive territorial dispute with Japan and taking measures to prevent accidental conflict.”
Tags: China, Conflict, Japan, Moderating, Territorial dispute, Xi Jinping
Washington Post (March 12)
The U.S. military is not ready for cyber conflict. “U.S. nuclear weapons, hardened to survive an atomic blast in the Cold War, may not be ready to survive a cyber-onslaught… We ought not wait until a disaster has arrived to address the policy implications of cyberwar.”
Wall Street Journal (September 25)Wall Street Journal (September 25)
India is “taking steps to protect itself from Chinese encroachment, part of which involves the military. Like China, India too is launching a new aircraft carrier and there’s the danger the two navies will increasingly rub against each other. It’s an open question whether the two nations can manage these tensions and avoid spilling over into armed conflict.”
Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“The U.S. is increasingly worried that territorial disputes in the Pacific could inadvertently erupt into a conflict.” En route to Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, “What we don’t want is any kind of provocative behavior on the part of China or anybody else, resulting in conflict….That conflict would have the potential of expanding.”
