August, 2011
Despite "dysfunctional" democracy, Japan can tackle debt, security issues
Japan's ruling Democratic Party elected a new leader this week, making former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda the country's sixth prime minister in five years. Despite sluggish growth in recent years, Japan remains a major global economy and is key to Asia's continued recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. To get a better sense of the state of Japan's democracy and the significance of last week's credit downgrade by Moody's, we talk to CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Paul Blustein, who is a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal writer now based in Kamakura, outside Tokyo.
CIGI experts discuss governing Libya after Gadhafi
As Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) forces continue their invasion of Tripoli, we speak to CIGI experts Gordon Smith, Bessma Momani and Mark Sedra about what steps the rebel alliance, and global governance bodies, should take to create a more peaceful and democratic order after the seemingly inevitable demise of the Muammar Gadhafi regime.
Long-term commitment needed to help Haiti "lift itself by its bootstraps"
Nineteen months after Haiti was hit by a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake, the Caribbean country remains in a state of uncertainty and flux. Haiti is the poorest and least developed country in the Western Hemisphere. Despite the promise of a new president, there remains great international skepticism about the country’s ability to resolve its complex social, political and economic problems. To learn more about what’s happening in Haiti and the international community’s response, we speak to CIGI Distinguished Fellow Jorge Heine, the co-editor of Fixing Haiti: MINUSTAH and Beyond.
Stabilizing the global economy: From the debt ceiling to deficits
Global financial markets are experiencing their steepest declines since the 2008-09 crisis, causing uncertainty throughout the global economy. To get a better sense of the issues at play, we talk to CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Manmohan Agarwal, former senior economist at the International Monetary Fund and former World Bank strategist.
What's needed for East Africa beyond immediate food aid?
The United Nations (UN) recently announced that the ongoing crisis in parts of Somalia is a famine, as East Africa experiences what experts believe to be the worst drought in roughly 60 years. This humanitarian emergency has not only called into question the world’s preparedness for dealing with such a crisis, but it has also lead to a mass appeal for donations. This week, we talk to CIGI Chair in Global Environmental Governance and global food systems expert, Jennifer Clapp, about why this situation is occurring and how the international community should respond.