Opinion

Mihir Sharma All too often, the stewards of India’s economy have been short of credibility. Politicians’ promises of economic reform are rarely fulfilled, bureaucrats’ assurances are widely disbelieved, and even India’s growth numbers have become objects of suspicion. Of late, one institution and its leader had proven exceptions to this rule: the Reserve Bank of India and its governor, Raghuram …

WASHINGTON We Americans have a confused and contradictory relationship with vacation. In theory; we love it; in practice, we often dread it. So much expectation is heaped on a few weeks of free time that disappointment, if not inevitable, is common. Worse, our escape from the job and daily routine fills us with anxiety that, somehow, this interlude will inflict …

Serious prospect of Britain leaving the European Union could trigger a domino effect within the UK itself, as Scotland could opt for another referendum, with intention to secede from the UK to join the EU. At worst, Brexit is widely believed to lead to a breakup of the UK if Brexiteers get their way on June 23. Northern Ireland and …

  Franz-Stefan Gady SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS On June 15, China and the United States held their second round of bilateral talks on cybercrime and other cyber-related topics in Beijing. Originally intended to be a ministerial meeting, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson had to withdraw their participation to focus on the ongoing Orlando …

  Leonid Bershidsky The shocking murder of British parliament member Jo Cox and the Orlando shootings were both hate crimes that defy political labels, whatever the professed motives of the killers. Nobody can predict what will set off a deranged killer and it would be deplorable to tar legitimate political campaigns because a killer identified with one cause or another. …

  Walter Andersen / Dániel Balázs SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS US-India ties over the past few years have become increasingly close, but this movement has evoked limited response in China. Beijing’s composure is based on three factors: (1) Indian foreign policy is independent and free of strategic commitments to another countries; (2) India has been cautious in its handling of …

  Last this week, the London-based PR outfit Portland Communications released its second annual list of nations with the greatest magnitude of “soft power.” Relying on Joseph Nye’s traditional delineation of “soft power” – attraction as influence; the “pull” to hard power’s “push” – the group, patching together a supposed formula, claimed to reveal the 30 nations with the largest …

  Anthony Fensom Asia’s leaders have warned Britain against contemplating a split from the European Union in its June 23 referendum, fearing the consequences for the global economy. With financial markets already showing the ill effects of nervousness over the risk of “Brexit,” global growth forecasts dropping and analysts warning of further fallout, the downside risk to Asia has rapidly …

  WASHINGTON A year ago this month, President Obama was delivering a eulogy in Charleston, South Carolina, after the mass shooting in a church there. As he neared the end, he took a long pause and then began singing “Amazing Grace.” It was an unforgettable, transcendent moment. Michelle Obama had reportedly cautioned him against singing, but Obama told her on …

  With figures showing that Brazil’s economy stalled in 2014 and shrank 3.8% last year, the country heads towards its worst recession amid warnings such a development could cast a shadow on the Olympic Games in August, and deepen the political crisis. The scenario is deplorable indeed. The country’s primary fiscal deficit is forecast to be around $47 billion. And …