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El presidente Joe Biden organiza una reunión virtual con líderes sindicales y empresariales para discutir los beneficios de la Ley de Reducción de la Inflación (IRA) en la Casa Blanca (2022). Foto: Foto oficial de la Casa Blanca por Erin Scott / The White House (trabajo del Gobierno de EE. UU.).

MundoAméricaEuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Exterior,
Tema [1]

La nueva estrategia de política económica exterior de la Administración Biden tiene implicaciones para la relación transatlántica.

Resumen

En este análisis se evalúa el cambio actual en la mentalidad de la política económica exterior estadounidense y se destacan las divergencias y los puntos en común entre los enfoques de EEUU y la UE. Mientras que el enfoque estadounidense para la política comercial e industrial gira en torno a un objetivo doble (combatir tanto el cambio climático como el auge económico de China), la UE ha optado por un planteamiento más moderado que entrelaza la política comercial tradicional con una reevaluación evolutiva de la estrategia geoeconómica.…  Seguir leyendo »

Qais al-Khazali, leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, speaking in Baghdad, January 2022. Ahmed Saad / Reuters

MundoOriente Próximo

On the surface, Iraq appears to have achieved a measure of stability. The country finally has a functioning government after a yearlong political vacuum. Terrorist violence has fallen to its lowest rate since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Even the country’s Iran-backed militias—long a source of tension with Washington—have significantly reduced their attacks on U.S. diplomatic and military sites. In a May 4 speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan credited a U.S strategy built on the “twin pillars of deterrence and diplomacy” for the decrease in attacks on U.S. interests.

As Sullivan’s speech illustrates, President Joe Biden’s national security team sees a quiet Middle East as an end unto itself—including in Iraq.…  Seguir leyendo »

A woman selling vegetables on a boat in a floating village, Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia, 2013. Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

MundoAsia

On her bank’s loan sheets Ban Sophear looks like an ideal borrower. At forty-seven, she runs a small business buying fish on the southern edge of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake and also owns some farmland. In the past Sophear borrowed a small amount of money—a microloan—to build up her business. She managed to pay it back in full, qualifying her for larger microloans, which are issued by banks that have turned lending to the poor into a lucrative business. In 2022 Sophear borrowed $3,000. She used the money for her business and to pay her son’s school fees. The interest rate is 18 percent—standard for microloans in Cambodia.…  Seguir leyendo »

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter questions TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 23.

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“Is it a hawkish thing for Trump?”

This irritating little sentence—or variations of it—has been the soundtrack of my life for the past three years. And not a good soundtrack. More like the chorus of “Macarena” played loudly on a long-neglected violin. By a child. On repeat.

This dirge hit my ears over and over again in early 2020 while I was recruiting MPs in several countries to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). The idea of IPAC is to build cross-party alliances around the world, with a view to pushing for coordinated policy reform.

Nearly everywhere, and especially on the European left, the anti-Trump chorus echoed along the halls of the world’s parliaments.…  Seguir leyendo »

Delivery riders wait to collect orders from a restaurant in Mumbai, India, in July 2021. Millions of young gig economy workers like this crisscross major cities at all hours of the day. Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg/Getty Images

MundoAsia,

Around this time last year, a stranger sent me a message on WhatsApp saying his life was under threat.

Only two months earlier, 32-year-old Indian national Raju Rai had answered a job ad on Facebook for a sales consultant in Thailand.

Dissatisfied with his low salary at an IT company in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, Rai took the first flight out to Bangkok, so he could earn in US dollars and send money home.

But things didn’t go according to plan. After arrival, Rai was picked up by locals representing his new employer who drove him inland for eight hours to a riverbank and then put him on a boat crossing the border into Myanmar.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoAsia,

At last, tensions between China and America are showing signs of easing, albeit with the occasional setback. At the recent G7 summit, President Joe Biden predicted a near-term “thaw” in relations between the two countries. Last week China’s commerce minister met his American counterpart and the US Trade Representative. This followed talks between America’s national security adviser and the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission. This week, however, China’s defence minister, Li Shangfu, reportedly rejected a request from his American opposite number, Lloyd Austin, for a meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum being held in Singapore on June 2nd-4th.…  Seguir leyendo »

In India’s Gang Rape Culture, All Women Are Victims

MundoAsia,

My niece was just 4 years old when she turned to my sister-in-law in a packed movie theater in Mumbai and asked about gang rape for the first time.

We were watching the latest Bollywood blockbuster about vigilante justice, nationalistic fervor and, of course, gang rape. Four male characters seized the hero’s sister and dragged her away. “Where are they taking Didi?” my niece asked, using the Hindi word for “elder sister”. It was dark, but I could still make out her tiny forehead, furrowed with concern.

Didi’s gang rape took place offscreen, but it didn’t need to be shown. As instinctively as a newborn fawn senses the mortal danger posed by a fox, little girls in India sense what men are capable of.…  Seguir leyendo »

Uganda's queer activist Papa De raises her fist outside the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria during a picket against the country's anti-homosexuality bill on April 4. (Phill Magakoe / AFP)

MundoÁfrica,

In February 2014, Jim Yong Kim, then-president of the World Bank, received a call from Rep. Barney Frank, the influential former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, as well as other prominent congressional leaders. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had just approved a slightly weaker version of the brutal anti-homosexuality bill that he signed into law this past Monday.

Frank reportedly told Kim that support from the United States and other donors could be in jeopardy if “the bank goes ahead and gives all this money to Uganda right after signing that terrible law”.

Soon thereafter, Kim published a Post op-ed announcing that the World Bank would undertake a review of how it might enshrine opposition to discrimination more explicitly into its decision-making.…  Seguir leyendo »

Demonstrations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Tel Aviv, Israel, April 2023. Corinna Kern / Reuters

MundoOriente Próximo,

After putting his plans for antidemocratic judicial overhaul on ice in April, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to gear up for a second try. The legislative proposals would effectively neuter the Israeli Supreme Court and prevent it from acting as a check on executive power, but the project’s success is not guaranteed. Mass protests against the overhaul have continued unabated, putting pressure on the government to stall further or even compromise.

The longer Netanyahu waits, however, the more he faces discontent in the ranks of his far-right coalition government. Netanyahu has already tried to calm the waves with massive state subsidies for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population.…  Seguir leyendo »

A demonstration of artificial intelligence at an exhibition on public safety and security in Beijing, October 2018. Thomas Peter / Reuters

MundoAsia,

The artificial intelligence revolution has reached Congress. The staggering potential of powerful AI systems, such as OpenAI’s text-based ChatGPT, has alarmed legislators, who worry about how advances in this fast-moving technology might remake economic and social life. Recent months have seen a flurry of hearings and behind-the-scenes negotiations on Capitol Hill as lawmakers and regulators try to determine how best to impose limits on the technology. But some fear that any regulation of the AI industry will incur a geopolitical cost. In a May hearing at the U.S. Senate, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, warned that “a peril” of AI regulation is that “you slow down American industry in such a way that China or somebody else makes faster progress”.…  Seguir leyendo »

Workers work on saplings at the Cashew Research Station in Wenchi. AI is helping small farmers in Ghana predict post-harvest shortages and gluts. Photograph: Thomas Imo/Photothek/Getty

MundoÁfrica

As we see the artificial intelligence furore sweep across continents, one thing is clear: Africans have a goldmine at our fingertips. A rapidly growing population of 1.4 billion people, 70% under the age of 30, combined with huge growth in AI investments, creates a potent recipe for Africa. We will not sit back and wait for the rest of the world to reap our rewards.

Africa and the Middle East are set to see the fastest growth in AI spending worldwide, reaching $3bn (£2.4bn) this year and a predicted $6.4bn by 2026.

Africa missed the first, second and third industrial revolutions, but I am determined that our continent will not miss the fourth and fifth.…  Seguir leyendo »

Haiti Has Overcome Other Crises. This Time, We Can’t Do It Alone

MundoAmérica

As an infectious disease doctor working in Haiti for over 40 years, I have wrestled with countless tragedies. I have battled problems like H.I.V., tuberculosis, Covid-19, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. Each time, our community of health care providers, police officers, humanitarian workers, government officials and citizens have pulled together and come up with a solution to steer Haitians to safety.

Today is different.

We now have around 200 gangs, armed with military-grade weapons, rampaging through our neighborhoods, killing, kidnapping and raping our citizens. Civilian casualties are at wartime levels. Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, recently called our situation “a living hell”.…  Seguir leyendo »

The New York Times; fotografías KCNA vía Reuters

MundoAsia  

Durante más de seis meses, Kim Jong-un, el líder de Corea del Norte, ha ofrecido al mundo una visión sin precedentes de su vida privada. La primera serie de fotos reveló a una chica con cola de caballo y zapatos rojos paseando de la mano de Kim alrededor de un misil balístico intercontinental Hwasong-17. Más tarde se le observa viéndolo fijamente a los ojos en una celebración para científicos de armamento y tiernamente dándole palmaditas en el hombro en un desfile militar. El 16 de mayo, los dos llevaban batas de laboratorio a juego mientras inspeccionaban un supuesto satélite espía.

Los medios de comunicación estatales han difundido las imágenes de padre e hija en más de una decena de ocasiones desde noviembre, con una coreografía ensayada, desde los rizos hasta los guantes.…  Seguir leyendo »

El presidente chino, Xi Jinping, participa en la primera reunión del ofro China-países latinoamericanos y caribeños (Celac), celebrada en enero de 2015 en Pekín.ROLEX DELA PENA

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Hace ya tiempo que casi todo lo que pasa en la región latinoamericana tiene algo que ver con China. La relación entre ambos mundos empezó por el comercio de materias primas cuando China se convirtió en el principal comprador de las mismas tras poner a su economía en esteroides para protegerla de los efectos de la crisis financiera global en 2008. Enseguida China consiguió girar las tornas inundando a los países latinoamericanos con sus exportaciones de bienes de consumo, y más recientemente, también de productos intermedios, como maquinaria, componentes electrónicos y muchos otros, haciendo competencia directa a Estados Unidos y, sobre todo, a una Europa que durante décadas se ha beneficiado de su potencia exportadora mundial.…  Seguir leyendo »

La necesidad de nivelar el terreno para África

MundoÁfrica

África prácticamente no tiene ninguna responsabilidad por las emisiones de efecto invernadero que están generando la crisis climática, ni por los conflictos o las interrupciones de la cadena de suministro que han impulsado la inflación global. Tampoco originó la propagación del COVID-19, ni provocó la crisis económica postpandemia. Y, sin embargo, es probable que los efectos de largo plazo de estas tres crisis se sientan de forma más aguda en África más que en ningún otro lugar.

El Fondo Monetario Internacional ha estimado que las necesidades financieras adicionales del continente africano resultantes de la pandemia serán de $285 mil millones a lo largo del periodo de 4 años que termina en 2025.…  Seguir leyendo »

Estados Unidos y China están en rumbo de colisión

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Después de la cumbre del G7 celebrada en mayo en Hiroshima, el presidente de los Estados Unidos Joe Biden afirmó que espera un «descongelamiento» en la relación con China. Pero a pesar de que en tiempos recientes hubo algunas reuniones bilaterales oficiales (y la secretaria del Tesoro de los Estados Unidos Janet Yellen expresó esperanzas de visitar China pronto) dicha relación todavía es glacial.

De hecho, más que descongelarse, la nueva guerra fría se está poniendo cada vez más fría, y la cumbre del G7 amplificó las inquietudes chinas respecto de que Estados Unidos sigue una estrategia de «contención, aislamiento y supresión integral».…  Seguir leyendo »

¿Y si vuelve Trump?

MundoAmérica

La temporada de campañas para las primarias presidenciales de 2024 en los Estados Unidos ha comenzado y la contienda final más probable es un nuevo encuentro entre el presidente Joe Biden y Donald Trump. A juzgar por el mapa electoral de 2020, Biden está bien posicionado para ganar. Pero la política estadounidense es impredecible, y hay un sinnúmero de sorpresas (en el ámbito económico, legal o de la salud) que pueden cambiar el panorama. De allí que muchos amigos extranjeros me pregunten que será de la política exterior estadounidense si Trump vuelve a la Casa Blanca.

La cuestión se complica por el hecho de que Trump mismo es impredecible.…  Seguir leyendo »

I Went to China for the First Time in 3 Years, and I Saw Just How Formidable It Is

MundoAsia

On my first trip to China in more than three years, I awoke to an uncharacteristically brilliant blue Beijing sky. The forsythia and cherry trees were in full bloom, and the city was sparkling.

That, for me, proved to be a metaphor for at least part of my weeklong visit this spring. On many levels, China is back. Offices were filled with workers putting in their typically long days. Executives mostly radiated optimism about their businesses. A robust pipeline of exciting start-ups suggested China will continue to be a leader in innovation. And the energy and drive that excited me on my many past visits were abundant.…  Seguir leyendo »

A Venezuelan boy is seen while crossing with his family from Colombia to Panama en route to the United States on May 9. (Ivan Valencia/AP)

MundoAmérica, ,

Journalists converged on the southern U.S. border two weeks ago in search of yet another crisis. The end of Title 42′s border policy, a covid-era mechanism for automatically expelling asylum seekers back to Mexico, was supposed to provoke a surge in migrant crossings. When those masses did not materialize, everyone was left asking where the crisis was.

Perhaps it was not the right question. Perhaps they should have asked where the border actually lies, what it actually is — and what it represents to the men, women and children who go to great pains to traverse it in pursuit of a dream many Americans no longer seem to be able to recognize.…  Seguir leyendo »

This is the ‘America First’ case for supporting Ukraine

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As Ukraine begins its spring counteroffensive, a 60 percent majority of Republicans say we should stand with Ukraine until Russia is defeated, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll conducted in March. But GOP support is softening. The share of Republicans who say the United States is providing too much aid to Ukraine has steadily increased from 9 percent right after the Russian invasion to 40 percent today, according to a Pew Research Center poll in January.

Many wavering Republicans are frustrated by the lack of a clear strategy for victory from the Biden administration. They hear Ukraine skeptics on the right arguing that the war is costing too much, depleting our military readiness, increasing the risk of nuclear confrontation with Russia and distracting us from the larger threat posed by Communist China.…  Seguir leyendo »