Opinion

A Greek scenario which saw furious masses unseating their government through ballots, accusing it of conceding too much to harsh austerity measures that had left them struggling to make ends meet, is being played out in more European countries: Spain, Portugal and Ireland…The list could grow further. The angry voters in these countries are venting their wrath on established political ...

Franz-Stefan Gady SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS A Japan-India defense deal over the procurement of 12 ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious search-and-rescue aircraft for the Indian Navy is facing additional delays and an uncertain future, according to Japanese diplomatic sources interviewed by The Hindu newspaper. Japan has no plan for “selling or delivering” the US-2 maritime surveillance aircraft in the immediate future and ...

Time for your weekly China links… China’s “two sessions” – the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – are in full swing. The main event, the NPC meeting, begins tomorrow, and will see China’s 13th Five Year Plan officially approved. But one big announcement has already been made: NPC spokesperson Fu Ying ...

Gradually, America and the rest of the world are coming to terms with Donald Trump’s political ambitions. Even the Huffington Post, which initially dismissed the New York billionaire’s bid for office as a clownish “sideshow,” is now openly warning about a supposedly disturbing political development that has “curdled and congealed into something repellent and threatening.” The real estate mogul has ...

It’s no secret that Kazakhstan’s economy has suffered in the past year. The global fall in oil prices is the most important factor, but the failure of the Eurasian Economic Union to stimulate trade among members has helped deepen the hole. Persistent tension between Europe and Russia hasn’t helped the fledgling EEU. European countries still account for almost half of ...

On the sidelines of a G20 conference in Shanghai last week, Indonesian finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said in a Reuters interview that he is willing to exceed the 2015 budget deficit. These comments were certainly calculated to reassure investors and concerned observers at a time when the global engines of growth are slowing, most notably China, taking its toll on ...

China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been the source of considerable debate. While its supporters believe the bank will fill a much needed investment gap in Asia’s economic development, its naysayers worry that China will use it to further its own economic and strategic goals in the region. They say the very structure of the AIIB allows China ...

EU President Donald Tusk’s stark warning to economic migrants not to come to Europe because it will not welcome them anymore, reflects the deepening refugee crisis in Europe, where some states have been restricting their borders to stem the influx of refugees. “I want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants wherever you are from: Do not come to ...

A commentary by Vasily Kashin, published by Russian news agency Sputnik on March 1, straightforwardly wrote that China has overestimated the effect of its “economic diplomacy,” and has underestimated the influence of factors like politics, ideology, and military relations. Kashin argues that China has upheld a rather naive belief that as long as it increases trade and investment, it will ...

Adam Minter Airline passengers are being packed into planes “like sardines,” says U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. So he wants the Federal Aviation Administration to set minimum seat-size guidelines. The point, Schumer suggested, is to right an injustice: “It’s just plain unfair that a person gets charged for extra inches that were once standard.” In other words: Everyone could soon get ...