Moving Asia Beyond GDP-ism
Beijing Red Alert. Smog on Tienanmen The planet is adrift and in a mess. Today, as 2015 comes to a close, this would seem a pretty incontestable statement. For one thing, humanity appears increasingly...
View ArticleIndia And Japan: In Search Of A Relationship
Indian PM Modi and Japanese PM Abe The wording of the sub-title, “in search of a relationship”, is deliberate. It would be incorrect to write “in search of a new relationship” because that would assume...
View ArticleAfter The Election Of Tsai Ing-wen, What Next for Taiwan and China?
Recently elected DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen to presidency of Taiwan Following the resounding victory of the candidate of the independence-inclined Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to Taiwan’s...
View ArticleASEAN From Battlefield To Marketplace: An Asian Role Model?
Asean has led the way in showing the rest of Asia how to achieve relative stability. ASEAN Economic Community The term "Asia" - coined by the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus to describe what...
View ArticleSlavery, Cecil Rhodes & Capitalism: Past, Present ... And Future?
Statue of Cecil Rhodes on High Street Oxford Oxford students are currently leading the “Rhodes Must Fall Movement.” They demand that the statue of Cecil Rhodes should be removed from its niche at Oriel...
View ArticleThe EU' s Bleak & Alarming Prospects
Two of the intellectual visionary giants who made Europe, France's Charles de Gaulle and Germany's Konrad Adenauer My generation of Western Europeans (born 1945) is the luckiest ever. We stand in stark...
View ArticleThe Acquisition Of Japan's Sharp By Taiwan's Foxconn's Historical Significance
The outcome of the acceptance by Japanese electronics giant Sharp of a USD $4.3bn takeover bid by Taiwanese multinational Foxconn remains to be seen. Its symbolic significance however could be quite...
View ArticleThe Trump Effect On China
Following on from Super Tuesday, with the triumph once again of Donald Trump and an ever-stronger prospect that his Long March to defeat the Republican Party establishment succeeds, it is high time...
View ArticleBusiness Plays Ostrich As Geopolitical Chaos Reigns
I worry about the world's turbulent geopolitical condition. I find that much of the business world I come across also worry but almost invariably about their own condition and prospects - profits,...
View ArticleEnding Schengen Agreement Would Threaten to 'Unravel' the European Project
In John Maynard Keynes’ seminal 1919 publication The Economic Consequences of the Peace he marvelled how, in the early 20th century, “The inhabitant of London could … order cheap and comfortable means...
View ArticlePanama -- The Coming Crash Of Capitalism
Watching the alarming scene of global capitalism today is akin to seeing a vehicle hurtling at full speed towards a wall and while shouting and screaming on the sidelines the pilot remains oblivious...
View ArticleEconomic Growth In MENA: The Challenge Of Youth And The Imperative Of Pragmatism
Arab Youth: What Future? Two years and half ago I wrote an article for Middle East Business and News Magazine, entitled “The Middle East Must Look East”, arguing that the Middle East should look to...
View ArticleThe South China Sea Dispute And China's 'Peaceful' Rise?
Following the recent flare-up between Indonesia and China in the South China Sea, the situation is clearly deteriorating. Doomsayers warn that the South China Sea may be the "Sarajevo" of World War...
View ArticleThe Collapse Of US Soft Power - Global Impacts
Recent events and developments – from the 2003 botched illegal invasion of Iraq to the 2016 presidential election – are doing significant harm not only to the planet in general, but also to the US’...
View ArticleDonald Trump And The Contemporary Leadership Deficit
Nik Gowing and Chris Langdon have written an excellent challenging report entitled: Thinking the Unthinkable: A New Imperative for Leadership in the Digital Age. One of the key lessons is that in this...
View ArticleThe Taiwan 'Model' And China: Handle With Care
Tsai Ing-wen, center, the president-elect of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), waves to the crowd after her victory in the election in Taipei on Jan. 16. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images) Next year,...
View ArticleRodrigo Duterte -- The Sad Philippines Political Circus Goes On
Rodrigo Duterte Newly Elected President of the Philippines First, full disclosure. My mother was born (1910) and raised in the Philippines. Although I never lived in the country, it was present in the...
View ArticleThe G7 Should Be Scrapped: It Is An Anomaly And An Affront
The 42nd Summit of the G7 due to be held on 26 & 27 May in Ise-Shima, Japan, should be its last. In fact, it should have been dissolved a long time ago. The G7 is an atavistic anomaly that serves...
View ArticleFor Peace In Asia, Abe Must Go To Nanjing
German Chancellor Merkel with French President Hollande commemorating 100th anniversary of Battle of Verdun On Saturday, May 28, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande...
View ArticleBetter A Brexit For A Revitalized EU
Let me begin by saying I am a great Britophile. I lived in the UK for some fifteen happy years; I met my wife (even though French like myself) at Oxford where I did my doctorate; my three children were...
View ArticleAsia Pacific At A Crossroads: Between Conflict And Peaceful Social Rise
***** I have been kicking around the Asia Pacific Region (APR), physically, professionally, intellectually and emotionally, for the better part of half-a-century. I count close friends in all the...
View ArticleDefining China: A Rising, Fragile Global Power
56 Flowers Female Group Celebrating Diversity of 56 Ethnicities Among the many daunting questions the planet is facing, the most important for at least the first quarter of the 21st century, in all...
View ArticleThe South China Sea & China's Peaceful Rise: The Perils Of A Lawless World
I have reproduced below, with the editor’s permission, an article I published in China Daily related to the South China Sea issue, entitled: Its peaceful rise not just dependent on China. The article...
View ArticleWith TPP dead, what next for world trade?
This article initially appeared in the South China Morning Post and is reproduced here with the Editor's permission. At a major conference on global trade in London this month, officials from the US...
View ArticleAnti-Trade Backlash: Ignorance & Abdication Of Business 'Elites'
This article first appeared as a “think piece” in the IDEAS Center (Geneva) series on “The Future of the WTO and the WTO of the Future” and is reproduced here with their permission....
View ArticleThe Hangzhou G20 Is Theater -- But How Will It Play Out?
As with any play the audience will wait to see whether this turns out to be a comedy (with a happy ending), a tragedy (with a tragic ending), or simply farce devoid of any particular substance which...
View ArticleThe New World Disorder Puts Asia In Uncharted Territory
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the global narrative was written in Europe. In the 21st century, it will be written in Asia.
View ArticleThe Donald Trump And Xi Jinping Show
Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke of openness and economic globalism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, while U.S. President Donald Trump violently rejected globalism in his inaugural...
View ArticleXenophobia Is Not The Road For China's Rise To Great Power
In 2012 the World Bank and the PRC Development Research Center of the State Council published a report entitled China 2030, subtitled: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society....
View ArticlePresident Aquino Should Avoid Inflammatory Rhetoric On South China Sea: China...
The situation in Asia Pacific generally and in the South China Sea in particular is explosive. There are several actors and tensions involved, including between the Philippines and China. When last...
View ArticleCongratulations To Ariana Miyamoto, The Japanese 'Hafu' Beauty Queen --...
This column focuses on issues of Asian regional and global political economy. Writing about a beauty queen therefore may seem odd. However, the winner of this year’s Miss Japan contest, Ariana Miyamoto...
View ArticleCan War Be Avoided? The Urgent Imperative Of Business Leadership
A recently released report from the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) states that “the number of people displaced by war, conflict or persecution reached a record high of nearly 60...
View ArticleGlobalization With Chinese Characteristics -- What Are The Prospects?
Every year IMD convenes a one-week intensive program entitled Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP), once in Lausanne (Switzerland) and once in Singapore, bringing together business leaders and...
View ArticleTribalism: Understanding Europe And The Greek Crisis
I have been a Europhile all my life. Consequently I have favored most initiatives to deepen and/or expand the European Union. I am not completely naïve and recognize that Europe has many failings, not...
View ArticleChina's Elusive Quest For 'Values'
The Chinese of today are seeking a new set of values that correspond to the new circumstances of their country.
View ArticleNikkei-FT: Will They Get Lost In Translation?
A copy of the Financial Times newspaper is seen alongside other British newspapers displayed for sale in a newsagent in London on July 23, 2015. (NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images) The news of Nikkei’s...
View ArticleThe TPP, The WTO, The 21st Century Global Trade Mess And The Poverty Of Nations
Here we are in 2015 and the global trade agenda is in a total mess. The 20th anniversary of the establishment of the WTO marks a narrative littered with missed deadlines, disappointments, and failed...
View ArticleWWII Wounds In Asia Continue To Fester
In his review of Hirohito's War by Francis Pike, Rana Mitter, distinguished historian of China and author of China's War With Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle For Survival, concludes: "The Second World...
View ArticleAsia: A Continent In Turmoil
Two headlines: “Conflict-hit Yemen on edge of famine, warns UN” and “North and South Korea Trade Fire Across Border, Seoul Says”. From the Far West to the Far East, Asia is a continent in turmoil. I am...
View ArticleThe Glory Of Malala: Improving The Condition Of Women In The World
Last week two things happened: one purely personal, the other global. Both share a common thread. My eldest grand-daughter, Clara, got her GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) results:...
View ArticleRefugees And Migrants: Europe's Past History And Future Challenge
What the European policy in respect to the migrants and refugees from Asia and Africa should be is obviously a huge challenge, perhaps the greatest confronting us at the moment.
View ArticleIs The 21st Century The Century Of Religion?
Vivekananda International Forum on Hindu-Buddhist global initiatives in conflict avoidance and environmental consciousness Twenty years ago, I was invited to give an open lecture at St Gallen, the...
View ArticleTPP: The Path To Global Fragmentation
The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is another nail in the coffin of a multilateral global trade system that brought the world together in the past six decades In my column last month for The...
View ArticleA Radical Role Reversal -- Britain As China's Gateway To Europe
Britain’s advantages to being China’s gateway to Europe (and possibly to the West generally) include not only its financial services and expertise, but also its strong academic credentials and...
View ArticleEconomic Ties Won't Ensure Peace Between China And Japan
Meeting of Japanese PM Kakuei Tanaka with Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai 1972 restoring diplomatic ties between Beijing and Tokyo Will increasing economic interdependence between Japan and China increase...
View ArticleThe Rapid Rise And Fall Of The BRICS: Meanderings In Global Fantasyland
All BRICS no mortar Full disclosure: I have always been a “BRICSo-sceptic.” In 2013 my colleague Carlos Primo Braga and I published an article entitled The BRICS are Here, But Where is the Mortar?...
View ArticleThe Meaning Of Taiwan
Leaders of China and Taiwan met but the way forward remains difficult with no precedent or parallel to look to. The historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the President of the...
View ArticleParis A Week After
Candlelight Vigil for victims of Paris 13 Nov attacks in Hong Kong where there is a large French community On Saturday, 14th, a week ago, I was with my wife in England, in Sussex, visiting our elder...
View ArticleUN Climate Change Conference: The Babel Tower Comes To Paris
When I began teaching as Visiting Professor in the MBA program at the University of Hong Kong in February 2012 I had entitled the course “Asia in the New Global Order.” At the first class one of the...
View ArticleWhat Is The Meaning Of Success?
Kristine Balanas playing Prokofiev A few weeks ago I was sitting in a concert hall with my wife, my elder daughter, and eldest grand-daughter, Clara (named after the composer Clara Schuman , wife of...
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