Opinion

  On the surface, the concept of a Russian pivot to Asia made sense, particularly greater cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. But, as a pair of fellows from the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin and a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center made clear in separate articles published this month, Russia’s Asia pivot has failed so far ...

  The presidents of Ukraine and Belarus, the two countries most affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, used the meltdown’s 30-year anniversary on Tuesday to make political statements. It looks like neither of them — nor Russian President Vladimir Putin — has drawn the right conclusions from the tragedy, which probably hastened the Soviet Union’s demise. Unit 4 of the ...

  Britain is asking itself whether quitting the European Union would be good or bad — for Britain. President Barack Obama is advising Britain to stay — presumably because he thinks that would be good for the U.S. But what if Brexit would be good for Britain and the U.S. mainly because it would be good for Europe? I’m led ...

The gender pay gap is back in the news — and may become a major issue in the presidential campaign. It seems an open-and-shut case of job discrimination. Women earn only 79 percent of men’s average hourly earnings. Who could favor that? Actually, the comparison is bogus. A more accurate ratio, after adjusting for differences in gender employment patterns, is ...

  The Dubai Smart City project is a brainchild of UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It started as a dream, but is now taking a concrete shape given the resolve and dedication demonstrated by Sheikh Mohammed to make the project a success. A small port city four ...

    U.K. banks are giving new meaning to the term “Brexit”: They’ve been pulling money out of the rest of the world at a pace not seen since the global financial crisis. The latest data from the Bank for International Settlements suggest that financial institutions have been beating a retreat just about everywhere. In 25 countries whose banks report ...

  Last week, international capital markets enthusiastically granted redemption to Argentina, a serial defaulter on money it has borrowed from external creditors. The scale of this reaction is counter-intuitive and could provide the wrong incentive underpinnings for financial relationships that involve an important element of trust. Yet this kind of forgiveness has occurred regularly — for good and bad reasons ...

  The Russian government has approved a sober, and sobering, economic forecast for the next three years. The country’s prospects look so joyless that President Vladimir Putin may finally start listening to the mainstream economists who have stuck with him despite his unconcealed preference for a huge public sector tempered with a dose of crony capitalism. Today’s Russian leaders appear ...

  Du Nhat Dang SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS For Vietnam, 2016 seems fated to be a crucial year. Hanoi’s sovereignty disputes and related diplomatic efforts will be impacted by ongoing changes in Russia, China, and Japan and, yes, the results of the United States’ presidential election. The role of Russia is of particular interest for Vietnam. On April 14, Vietnamese ...

  This week’s U.K. Treasury report and last week’s IMF report are the latest in a long line of predictions suggesting doom and gloom if the U.K. leaves the European Union. Are they right? Economists are far more split on the consequences of a U.K. exit than the conventional view suggests. While a number of global investment banks have given ...