We often think of globalization affecting political, productive, and commercial elements in an economy. In Nigeria, Jon Gambrell, writing for the Associated Press, describes the globalization of consumption by the elite.
And keep in mind how small the Nigerian elite is and how different are their political values. Do these changes in economic behavior predict changes in political behavior?
Inside this 1950s-style American diner, waitresses softly sing along to Aretha Franklin as they sling hamburgers and whip up milkshakes. The jukebox belts out Ritchie Valens as a customer wearing a Muslim prayer cap and flowing blue robes ambles in.
Johnny Rockets' Facebook page
This isn’t the U.S., where the kitsch restaurant chain Johnny Rockets has several hundred locations, but instead Nigeria, where foreign companies have hesitated to invest because of logistical challenges, poor electricity and government corruption.
Now, however, as Nigeria’s middle class grows along with the appetite for foreign brands in Africa’s most populous nation, more foreign restaurants and lifestyle companies are entering the country…
Christopher Nahman, the managing director at the Johnny Rockets in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos [said], ‘‘Nigerians are a very aspirational society also. Even somebody who it might be really kind of a burden on them financially, they will still do it to just have that experience…
The majority of those who live in Nigeria, home to more than 160 million people, live in poverty. Just more than 60 percent of Nigerians earn the equivalent of less than $1 a day…
In retail, South African firms have flocked into Nigeria, finding places in the new malls being opened around Lagos. MassMart Holdings Ltd., of which Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Arkansas, owns a controlling stake…
The market has drawn U.S. restaurant chains as well. KFC… Domino’s Pizza… Even ice cream seller Cold Stone Creamery…
At Johnny Rockets, which sits on Lagos’ swanky business-hub Victoria Island across the street from a major hotel frequented by foreigners and dignitaries, the restaurant has a velvet-roped waiting area in the parking lot…
That luxury does come at a steep price. A double bacon cheeseburger sells for 3,500 naira, the equivalent of about $22. A vanilla milkshake is 1,800 naira, or $11.25. Yet the service does come with a smile, a song and a bit of spectacle often missing in Nigeria, where customer service can quickly degenerate into exasperated shouts and curses at blank-eyed employees…
Despite the possible profits, challenges still remain for these companies. Stores must rely on diesel generators for electricity… Having adequate supply chains also can prove to be a challenge, as some Nigerian suppliers don’t immediately meet Western standards and backlogs at the country’s major port in Lagos can be weeks at a time. Corruption also remains rampant at government and regulatory agencies… making operating legally with proper accreditation even more difficult…
Iran and the Internet don't exactly get along. Between trying to shut down all Google services and replacing YouTube with a state-sponsored clone, Iran has been making moves to make its intranet the place to be. By blocking everything else. Until now, tech-savvy and Internet-loving Iranians have been able to use VPNs to get out into the Internet wilds, but no longer.
As of [Sunday], the Iranian government has been blocking non-Iranian VPNs…
If you, like me, thought that the British Empire had a bigger influence in the UK than other parts of the world, think again.
But, once past the second most popular language in Britain, the colonial influence is obvious.
What do these statistics say about Cameron's recent proclamation that the UK is not a European country?
It's probably worth noting that the second most-spoken language in the UK is used by only 1% of the population. Cultural homogeneity is not being threatened.
Polish is England’s second language, according to statistics published Wednesday, a dramatic illustration of the wave of immigration that has brought nearly 1 million Eastern Europeans to the U.K. over the past decade…
Poles began arriving in Britain en masse after 2004, when eight Eastern European nations — Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, and Estonia — joined the European Union, a development which would eventually give their citizens the right to move freely across the continent…
The new population has wrought changes across Britain, from Polish beers like Zywiec or Zamkowe Jasne served alongside British brews at London pubs to Polish food including pulpety and delicje now common across the aisles of major U.K. supermarkets…
Punjabi was England’s third language… Urdu… was the fourth. Both languages are native to the Indian subcontinent, as are Bengali and Gujarati, which come in at fifth and sixth respectively.
Arabic, French, and all forms of Chinese are also counted among England’s commonly-spoken languages…
Lisa Schalla, who teaches at The American School of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, sent me the link to a great article from the Project Syndicate site. She sent it to me a month ago. I lost track of it.
Sorry, Lisa.
Then again, as I read the position paper by Tony Blair, former UK PM, I realized that the issue of Britain's membership in the EU was just now coming to a head.
Wouldn't it be great, I thought, to pair Blair's position with that of the present PM, David Cameron.
Well, Cameron was scheduled to give a big position speech today (Friday) in Holland.
Events in North Africa have caused the Prime Minister to postpone his speech. When he does make it I'll add a link to it as a comment on this post.
Then you'll be able to use the political debate in the UK as a case study in what some of the issues that separate the Conservatives from Labour.
The toughest challenge in politics right now is resolving the tension between the best long-term policy and the best short-term politics. Nowhere is this tension clearer than in Britain’s debate over Europe.
Tony Blair
Europe has disturbed and divided British politics for years. But this time is different. Now mainstream politicians from the governing party are openly making the case for Britain leaving the European Union, or at least radically changing its relationship with it – which may amount to the same thing – with the sympathy of some of our nation’s leaders and far wider support among the public.
The reason for this resurgent skepticism and hostility toward the EU is not hard to fathom. Europe is in crisis…
The short-term politics is clear: being anti-Europe is today popular. But leadership is not about conceding to short-terms politics. It is about managing short-term politics in the pursuit of the right long-term policy.
“Europe is in crisis, therefore leave” may win a majority in an opinion poll. But, in the leap to “therefore” lies a chasm of error. I believe that such a policy would be politically debilitating, economically damaging, and hugely destructive for Britain’s true long-term interests. Our country faces a real and present danger by edging toward exit. The correct policy is to engage with Europe, to make it clear that Britain intends to be a strong participant in debates about Europe’s future, to build alliances, and to shape an outcome that is consistent with the right way forward, not just for Britain but for Europe as a whole…
The case for the EU today is that member countries, including Britain, need its heft in order to leverage power in economics, trade, defense, and foreign policy, as well as to address global challenges like climate change. The EU gives Britain a weight collectively that it lacks on its own.
It really is that simple. I admire the idealism of Europe’s early founders, but the rationale for Europe today has nothing to do with idealism. It is brutal Realpolitik. In a world in which China and India both have populations 20 times that of the United Kingdom, Britain needs the EU in order to pursue its national interest effectively. With it, we count for more; without it, we count for less…
Europe is a destiny that Britain will never embrace easily. But doing so is essential to remaining a world power, politically and economically. It would be a monumental error of statesmanship to turn our back on Europe and abandon a crucial position of power and influence in the twenty-first century.
Cameron had been due to warn his fellow European leaders that British membership of the EU could be put at risk unless its membership terms are changed. "If we don't address these challenges, the danger is that Europe will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit," Cameron was due to say in the speech to an audience of business leaders in Amsterdam.
PM David Cameron
"There is a growing frustration that the EU is seen as something that is done to people rather than acting on their behalf. And this is being intensified by the very solutions required to resolve the economic problems.
"People are increasingly frustrated that decisions taken further and further away from them mean their living standards are slashed through enforced austerity or their taxes are used to bail out governments on the other side of the continent."…
Cameron was due to declare that he will demand the repatriation of some powers if he wins an overall majority at the next election. The new terms of British membership would then be put to the people in a referendum, possibly around 2018.
Cameron was planning to tell the business audience in Amsterdam: "There is a growing frustration that the EU is seen as something that is done to people rather than acting on their behalf. And this is being intensified by the very solutions required to resolve the economic problems. People are increasingly frustrated that decisions taken further and further away from them mean their living standards are slashed through enforced austerity or their taxes are used to bail out governments on the other side of the continent.
"More of the same will not secure a long-term future for the eurozone. More of the same will not see the European Union keeping pace with the new powerhouse economies. More of the same will not bring the European Union any closer to its citizens. More of the same will just produce more of the same – less competitiveness, less growth, fewer jobs. And that will make our countries weaker, not stronger," Cameron was due to say…
The prime minister was due to say that he supports British membership of the EU and that his aim is to stabilise support in Britain by addressing concerns about power amassed in Brussels. He wants to use a major revision of the Lisbon treaty, which may take place after the European parliamentary elections in 2014, to table his demand for the repatriation of social and employment legislation.
Cameron planned to identify the three major challenges facing Europe as the eurozone crisis, weak European competitiveness, and a lack of democratic accountability. Failure to address these would increase support among those who want to leave, though he was due to say that is not his preference. "I do not want that to happen. I want the European Union to be a success and I want a relationship between Britain and the EU that keeps us in it."
While the nationalistic wing of the Conservative Party in the UK continues to argue that the United Kingdom is NOT part of Europe and only loses sovereignty and pride as part of the EU, one of the main lobbying groups in the country argues the other side.
Why is it that the CBI does its lobbying in public and not behind the closed doors of ministries or Downing Street?
Britain must carve out a new global trading role for itself as part of a new, rapidly-changing European Union (EU), John Cridland, director-general of the Conferderation of British Industry (CBI), urged on Monday…
In his message, he said a historic U.S. deal [between the EU and the USA] is vital to creating long-term, sustainable economic growth and job creation in Britain and the EU. It would eliminate tariffs, liberalize goods and services, harmonize regulation, promote investment and set benchmark standards for trade in the 21st century.
Britain could not afford to "miss out on opportunities to use the EU to help rebalance the economy towards exports and create new trade deals based on its world-class reputation - in particular in financial and professional services; pharmaceuticals; and creative industries."
The message comes as the CBI kickstarts a major project in the New Year to flesh out how the UK's global role should look in a new Europe. It will examine how the UK can remain a leading location to do business globally - expanding export markets particularly for high-growth small and medium-sized firms, without losing access to the Single Market. It will report in mid-2013…
"We need global trade deals to drive growth and create jobs, especially when the domestic economy is growing more slowly than required. Businesses don't want the baby thrown out with the bathwater - not with 50 percent of our exports heading to Europe."
Russian NGOs that receive funding from abroad will have to register as "foreign agents" and undergo extra checks under a new bill that critics warn is part of a crackdown on independent activists.
The bill, backed by the ruling United Russia party, would require foreign-funded NGOs involved in political activities to tag all publications and websites with the label "foreign agent"…
A video in support of the bill says: "You have the right to know who is trying to influence your opinion. Our country must have an opposition, but if it is protecting foreign interests, you have the right to know that."…
Many of Russia's most prominent NGOs, including the corruption watchdog Transparency International, the election monitor Golos and the environmental group Greenpeace Russia, rely on foreign grants to operate in a country where the government often views them as enemies…
Supporters of the law have likened it to similar legislation in the US that requires lobbyists employed by foreign governments to reveal their financing. Critics worry that it could be applied selectively in a country lacking rule of law…
[Opponents] said finding sponsors among wealthy individuals or businesses inside Russia had become impossible since the arrest of the former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003, which was partly seen as punishment for his funding of opposition and democracy activists.
A source inside the Kremlin said on Sunday that about 1,000 of the 230,000 NGOs operating in Russia were likely to fall under the restrictions…
Poured from the bottle, the ruby-colored liquid looks like wine. Swirled around a glass, it smells like wine. Sure enough, it tastes like wine, too.
But, at least within the confines of the European Union, the closest it may come to be being called wine is “fruit-based alcoholic beverage.”
The ruling is bad news for the Chapel Down Winery, which crushed more than two tons of refrigerated Malbec grapes that had been air-freighted from Mendoza, Argentina, hoping to produce an English take on the fabled Latin American wine…
The rule is intended to maintain the integrity and quality of wine and, for example, prevent producers from importing large quantities of must, or grape juice, from warmer climes and blending it with European grapes.
For decades, European wine regulations have provoked controversy across the tier of southern nations that produce the bulk of production. In many regions disputes have intensified as centuries of wine-making tradition battle the harsh reality of global competition against commercially produced New World exports…
A YEAR ago arrivals on the outskirts to Kano had to pass a sign forbidding alcohol consumption and banning women from riding on motorbikes. Now it is gone.
Kano may be the sixth-biggest Muslim city in the world… but it is far from the most conservative. Women lift their hemlines to get on the back of achabas, motorbikes that are the main source of transport. Mini vans carry both sexes to their destination. It is possible to get a cold beer to wash away sand inhaled during a day on the edge of the Sahara.
The relaxation of sharia rules has come gradually… Ibrahim Shekarau, the former governor, liked to please radical clerics. He put up pious signs even as prostitutes plied their trade and policemen took bribes from alcohol merchants. When Rabiu Kwankwaso took over last year, he dropped the charade…
On January 20th, Kano was the target of the [radical Islamist group, Boko Haram's] most deadly attack to date. A series of co-ordinated bombings and ambushes destroyed police buildings and secret-service offices, leaving some 200 dead…
Once a rich trans-Saharan trade hub, the city can ill afford to lose more commerce. For centuries it enjoyed high levels of literacy and a degree of architectural sophistication. But its main industries, cotton and leather, have collapsed, unable to compete with low-cost imports.
“The Chinese are choking small-scale businesses,” laments Sani Yusuf, a manager at Kano’s indigo-dye pits, some of the oldest in Africa…
In these times of globalization and the World Trade Organization, we, in the West, don't hear much about import substitution. After all, the policy got such a bad name after the 17th century when it was called mercantilism. Of course, when the newly independent USA followed Hamilton's version of mercantilism, it seemed more palatable to Americans than the British version had been.
After the Second World War, many African, Asian, and Latin American countries followed some version of import substitution to build up their economies. The simplistic logic seemed unassailable. Protect infant domestic industries with tax and trade policies, keep investment, consumer spending, and jobs within the national borders. However, when protected industries began inefficiently producing shoddy merchandise at high prices, many people began to question that simplistic logic.
In the '70s, the "Asian tigers" began implementing a new version of import substitution that focused on producing for export. This forced protected industries to compete on global markets and worked so well that China adopted its own version.
Former economics teacher Bisi Daniels, writing in This Day, offers his thoughts on import substitution for Nigeria.
I was one of the many Nigerians who rejoiced over the Federal Government’s decision to commit itself to an import substitution programme and to do everything to promote local industry.
As a believer in Domestic Direct Investment, I am also excited by government’s reasoning that patronizing locally-made goods is a way to “reward those who demonstrated the confidence to invest in the Nigerian economy.”…
I must also say upfront that the history of Import-substituting Industrialization (called ISI) calls for a cautious approach. Not everything must be produced locally…
ISI [import substitution industrialization] is a government strategy that replaces some agricultural or industrial imports to encourage local production for local consumption, and in some carefully planned cases, for exports. Import substitutes are traditionally meant to generate employment, reduce foreign exchange demand, stimulate innovation, and promote self-reliance in some critical sectors.
With increasing globalization and the breaking of international trade walls, ISI sounds like an old school model, but there is a robust case for its suitability in Nigeria, at least for now…
ISI was most successful in countries with large populations and income levels which allowed for the consumption of locally produced products…
Ultimately, when the popularity of ISI waned in the late 20th century, it was on account of its disadvantages and the dramatic growth effects of economic liberalization and reforms.
The disadvantages includes the fact that industries under ISI become complacent under the protection they enjoy and end up as inefficient and obsolete, producing poor quality goods. Inefficiency and low output reduce cost effectiveness. Above all, there is a build-up of unnecessary bureaucracy that breeds corruption. Nigeria has had more than a good share of this wastefulness…
A successful ISI in Nigeria will require the creation of a fertile environment for industry to thrive at minimal cost. And of course, we should be considerate of industries with clear linkages with the country’s agricultural and petroleum wealth for immediate impact...
Yajun, guest blogging at Jottings from the Granite Studio, ponders diversity in China. Politically and culturally, we have to ask what these features of Chinese culture and politics imply for China as a member of a global society. Recently, nearly 40,000 Chinese workers were evacuated from Lybia. What experiences did they bring back to China? What affects will those experiences (and those of other returnees) have on China?
I was born in a country where 90% of the people share a single ethnicity, where we have no national religion, but where we do have the stomachs to eat any living creature on earth. So it came as a shock to me, later than it probably should have, that some people may not eat certain things out of choice or because of their religion. Sure, China has Hui people who are Muslim and who eat Qingzhen (Halal) food, but prior to university I’d only met a handful of Chinese Muslims in my life…
China is not a country that celebrates true ethnic and culture diversity. Officially, we are 55 ethnic groups making up one China, but the Han are definitely the dominant and normative culture. Other than the fact that minorities are happy while dancing on stage during gala shows, very little information about them is presented in the mainstream media. Since the media is under the government’s control, minority voices and their cultural and historical perspectives are nowhere to be heard. China lacks social awareness of what diversity truly means.
Furthermore, a sense of individualism is also often suppressed in China. Many Chinese, like me, are taught since they were children that it is not okay to be different. We are not individuals, but a member of a group, a group which defines our identity. Everyone has to use the right hand to write or to eat. We have to find the one correct answer to the questions in exam. If a child’s creativity and imagination fails to match the content of text books, he or she is labeled as a bad student. Same thing with food. If somebody doesn’t eat a certain kind of food, that’s being picky and is sure to draw the parent’s ire…
I am amazed by the social awareness and understanding in the US. Part of it, I’m sure, is that the US is a nation founded in large part by immigrants. The other important reason, I believe, is that different — sometimes even completely contradictory — voices can be heard in the US. Dr. Martin Luther King called for the rights for African-Americans 50 years ago. Today Amy Chua teaches Americans how to be a successful Chinese mother. Public information and communication turns ignorance to acceptance and, finally, to a point where difference is no longer seen as different, just part of the greater whole.
Certainly, some people choose fear rather than acceptance… But these are problems which are openly discussed and debated in the US media and society, sometimes painfully and divisively…
I went shopping for Mosel Riesling wine for Thanksgiving. I guess I haven't been paying attention to the German wine section for a few years. The old green bottles and distinctly German-looking labels have been abandoned in favor of post-modern packaging. I had trouble finding the Qualitätswein designations on some of the bottles. And QmP? Forget it. It's now Prädikatswein.
The changes have come about because of a combination of changes in German law and EU regulation. In the EU wines are classified as either Table Wine or Quality Wine. The German wines, in all their confusing categories, have to fit into those European types.
But each member country in the EU wants its products to be identifiable and to stand out. There are allowable ways to do that and there are prohibited ways. Consider the case of chocolate.
There is no such thing as "pure chocolate," the EU high court ruled Thursday, ending an EU-Italy food fight over chocolate labels.
The ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union voided an Italian law that recognizes some delicacies as "pure chocolate."
The court said if a product is made from 100 percent cocoa butter, that fact must be listed on the ingredients table only. It also said the EU's 1999 chocolate labeling rules make no room for a "pure chocolate" reference like the one Italy enacted in a 2003 law…
The EU labeling rules took effect in 1999 after a lively debate pitting countries like Britain — where chocolate usually contains a substitute vegetable fats — against purists like Belgium, Italy and others, where traditionalist chocolate makers use only cocoa butter.
EU spokesman Roger Waite welcomed Thursday's court ruling, saying the EU rules pursue a fair balance between Europe's two different chocolate cultures…
In 1999, all EU nations agreed "there would be something on the label making clear whether it's pure cocoa butter" or not, said Waite.
He said it was agreed to stick to the name chocolate but to let the ingredients indicate the quality of the chocolate…
The European Commission had sued Italy, saying the EU law aims to inform consumers in a neutral way about the quality of chocolate on the basis of its ingredients.
Dr. Timothy Lim, who teaches at California State University at Los Angeles, sent me information about this incredible opportunity.
The deadline for application is December 4, so you have three weeks to get your application in. This kind of opportunity is rare. Go for it!
The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) is offering more than 600 full scholarships to U.S. high school students to study abroad and learn Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Turkish. Programs begin in Summer 2010.
The Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education, AFS-USA, iEARN-USA, and Concordia Language Villages, is awarding U.S. government funding to high school and just-graduated students (ages 15 – 18) to participate in summer, one-semester and full-year language programs in countries where these languages are widely spoken. Past participants of the NSLI-Y program are eligible to apply again.
Students wishing to apply for the scholarship need to:
* be U.S. citizens * be between the ages of 15-18 years at the time of departure * be enrolled in high school at the time of application * have at least a 2.5 GPA
A few days before the start of this year's Melbourne International Film Festival its executive director received an "audacious" telephone call.
An official from China's consulate in the city called him to "urge" the festival to withdraw a film about the Chinese activist Rebiya Kadeer.
Beijing then tried to persuade the organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair not to allow two Chinese writers to attend an event.
China says it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
But some see these acts as an attempt by China to use abroad the tough censorship measures it constantly employs at home...
The festival decided to ignore the advice and go ahead with the film...
The festival organisation was subjected to an intense campaign of threats, intimidation and disruption, although it is not clear who - if anyone - orchestrated the campaign...
[At] the Frankfurt Book Fair... Chinese officials were angry when they found out writers Dai Qing [right] and Bei Ling had been invited to a symposium connected to the fair...
China often asks foreign governments and organisations not to do something that it perceives to be against its interests. It recently complained to Japan when Tokyo allowed Ms Kadeer to enter the country.
But it says this does not contravene its policy of non-interference...
David Zweig, of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, is not so sure the Chinese are doing it from a position of strength.
"Sometimes we cannot tell whether it's confidence or concern," said Mr Zweig, the director of the Centre on China's Transnational Relations, based at his university...
Mr Zweig added that there could also be another reason behind the pressure - the Chinese government and its people are often quick to take offence at opinions they do not like to hear.
And he said ordinary people were sometimes more sensitive than officials - forcing the government to take a tougher stance internationally...
The pressure on Chinese policy makers comes from sources that can't be put in jail or censored or ignored -- if China wants to create a market economy.
So far this week, the World Trade Organization has rebuffed China in an important case involving Chinese restrictions on imported books and movies. The Chinese government dropped explosive espionage charges against executives of a foreign mining giant, the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto, after a global corporate outcry. And on Thursday, the government said it had backed off another contentious plan to install censorship software on all new computers sold here.
Throughout its long economic boom, China has usually managed to separate its aggressive push into the global business arena from domestic politics, which remained tightly controlled by the Communist Party. But events this week raise the question of just how long it will be before the two meet.
In each of those matters, politics and business collided, and business won. Business does not always win, and when it does, as in these cases, the reasons are as often as not a matter of guesswork. But in at least some high-profile matters, China appears to be facing the reality that the outside business world can be freewheeling and defiant when its profits are threatened. And so China’s authoritarian system may also have to evolve in ways its top leaders may not readily endorse...
Increasingly, many experts say, Chinese officials appear to be aware that their actions have far broader ramifications than they might have had even a few years ago.
“Fifteen years ago, the mantra in China was, ‘We’re the victims of a system that’s stacked against us,’ ” said James V. Feinerman, an expert on Chinese law and policy at Georgetown University in Washington.
China’s entry into the world trading system, he said, is slowly helping to change the nation’s view of itself from that of an outsider to an insider with a stake in the global system’s success...
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent a message of tough love to Nigeria on Wednesday, praising the country’s strong military and showing public appreciation for its huge oil industry, but also harshly criticizing the government for being corrupt...
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, reacting to the comment of the United States secretary of state, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, that the anti-graft agency has fallen off, says she was misinformed.
The EFCC in a statement in Abuja, said the impression created by Mrs Clinton's statement that the Commission had not done much in the last one year was not "only misleading but a contradiction of the records of activities within the same period...
Gas flaring in Nigeria is not just an environmental disaster. It is an awful thing to live near and it's like burning huge piles of money. Time will tell if the Russians can do any better than the Western European companies at eliminating flames, noise, and smoke.
The population of international organizations, formal like the SCO or informal like BRIC, is growing. What does that portend for the government and politics in member countries? Is this more than just a bunch more obscurely-named organizations (like NATO, EU, or SEATO) that students have to wade through in their textbooks?
The leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states and observer nations have a group photo taken with the leader of Afghanistan, a guest country of the SCO, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009.
Leaders of some of the world’s most powerful economies gathered Tuesday to discuss how they can exert more control over the global financial system as it takes its first wobbly steps toward recovery.
Yet not an American or Western European was in the bunch.
The first summit meeting of the so-called BRIC group — Brazil, Russia, India and China — was intended to underscore the rising economic clout of these four major developing countries and their demand for a greater voice in the world. And Russia, the group’s host and ideological provocateur, was especially interested in using the summit to fire a shot across Washington’s bow...
The BRIC countries comprise about 15 percent of the world economy and, perhaps more important, have about 40 percent of global currency reserves. Brazil, India and China have also weathered the financial crisis better than the world as a whole...
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) concluded their annual summit on Tuesday with calls for constructive dialogues and enhanced cooperation to tackle regional and international issues...
The summit was attended by heads of state of SCO member countries -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and leaders of SCO observer nations -- Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran.
Also present at the meeting were Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, a guest country of the SCO, and representatives of the United Nations and some other regional and international organizations...
"Of the 30 nations of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), which includes most of the prosperous industrialized nations of the world, the U.S. ranks 26th for overall tax burden. That number is calculated by taking all taxes paid as a percentage of GDP...
"This general ranking is nothing new. And it is a fact, which, as Ronald Reagan liked to say, are stubborn things.
"The U.S. has long been among the lower taxers in the industrialized world. The four countries that have lower tax levels -- Japan, Korea, Turkey, and Mexico -- are hardly a good starting point for the argument that lower taxes are the key to prosperity..."
International cooperation is based on some degree of basic agreement on political issues. Cultural, political, and nationalistic disagreements are not always worked out ahead of treaties. And things change.
"Fed up with the brazen string-pulling and favor-trading in the corrupt Moscow courts, a judge named Olga B. Kudeshkina went public, criticizing the system in numerous interviews as little more than a legal bazaar — 'an instrument,' as she put it, 'for settling political, commercial or simply personal scores.'
"When Ms. Kudeshkina was then dismissed, she joined a stampede of Russians in appealing their cases to the European Court of Human Rights [headquarters at left], which ruled last month that she had been improperly disciplined.
"But now, it seems, that path is becoming more difficult, as the Kremlin is blocking an overhaul of the European court that is intended to reduce a multiyear backlog of cases — many of them from Russia.
"The dispute with the court has underscored the Kremlin’s growing antipathy to international organizations and thrown into question the commitment of Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, to confronting corruption and what he has described as Russia’s 'legal nihilism.'...
"The rulings of the court, which was established under the auspices of the Council of Europe, are binding on all its member countries...
"The court appears to have increasingly rankled the Kremlin by issuing rulings that highlight corruption, torture and other official misconduct in Russia, including the pervasive practice of what is known here as 'telephone justice' — a politician calling and instructing a judge how to rule.
"Russia began taking part in the court in the late 1990s. In 2000, the court received 1,987 appeals against Russia, or 8 percent of the total, court officials said.
"At the end of 2008, the number of cases filed against Russia had risen to 27,250, or 28 percent of the total, far more than any other country, and out of proportion to its population...
"Genri M. Reznik, a lawyer who is a member of a Kremlin advisory body called the Public Chamber, said senior officials needed to acknowledge that the Russian legal system was deeply troubled.
"'We should not blame the mirror of the Strasbourg court if we are shown to have an ugly face,' he said." See also:
The Economist reports that Chinese leaders are feeling this is the time to press its advantage on the world stage. The writers also offer some insight into the politics of China.
"The government, however, does not want China to be roiled by the same debate that is plaguing Western governments over how to handle the crisis. This month’s annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, was convened for only nine days instead of the usual two weeks. Although even the official media wanted more details of spending plans, the government-set agenda was strikingly sparse. The parliamentary chairman, Wu Bangguo, used the occasion to launch a lengthy tirade against Western-style democracy. “Leadership by the Party can only be strengthened and in no way weakened,” he told the delegates. For Mr Wu to get so worked up, serious voices must have been suggesting otherwise.
"But few new details of the stimulus measures were revealed at the congress. The government airily said that details of a separate massive spending programme on health-care reform (850 billion yuan over three years) would be finalised only after the parliamentary session...
"On March 13th, at the end of the parliamentary session, Mr Wen said that to counter the crisis China “would rather speed up reforms”. He said it should “give full play to market forces in allocating resources” and encourage the development of the private sector. It must also, he said, carry on with political reforms in order to “guarantee people’s freedom and rights”. But the economic crisis will not have increased officials’ appetite for change. Many will be all the more convinced that the government’s big role in the economy (not least its ownership of the banks) and the country’s one-party system (where else could a government announce such big spending plans without time-wasting debate?) are a help, not a hindrance.
"It is more likely that, as the crisis deepens, the government will become increasingly cautious in its approach to domestic policy..." What You Need to Know -- a study guide for AP Comparative Government and Politics
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