Government influence is crucial for the international operations of firms in emerging economies. However, these firms have varied experience of government interventions: some benefit more, some less, while the government roles vary among countries and industries.

The discovery of petroleum wealth in the middle of the last century completely reconfigured the political economy of Qatar. Small local population size and low levels of labor force participation pushed Qatar to seek alternate sources of labor to meet burgeoning labor demands.

Chinese cities are getting bigger and are also growing into each other. To ensure that the rapidly increasing number of urban residents have access to adequate transportation not only requires increased investment in transportation, but also careful deliberation to allow an optimal tradeoff between different modes of transport as well as a coordinated approach to land development and transport development.

On 1 December 2013 a law on the export liberalization of liquefied natural gas (LNG) came into legal force in Russia. The law allows some categories of companies other than Russia's state gas giant Gazprom and its subsidiary companies to have LNG export rights.

In many respects, the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear arsenal and posture appear unusual to Western eyes. From its “No First Use” policy to its nuclear warhead storage system, Beijing appears to think about nuclear weapons and their strategic effects in a way that differs with the West in general, and with the United States in particular.

The shale gas revolution has led to strong falls in energy prices, reducing significantly the raw material costs of the US petrochemical industry. Between 2008 and 2012, US gas prices fell by two thirds.

The new organization of land forces breaks with a centuries-old tactical order: the regiment. Born out of political constraints that have shaped its history, the regimental order has accompanied the rise of the nation state; the Third Republic, for instance, entrusted it with political, social, and cultural functions. 

Under human pressure, many changes are taking place in the resources and the environment of Earth. An increasing global population fuels the need for food, natural resources and land. Consequently, the need for maintaining a capacity to observe and understand the Earth system and the biophysical processes has become a key element for the sustainable management of the planet’s natural resources. The SPOT-Vegetation instruments have significantly contributed to reach this goal.

Accountability is on the endangered species list. No - not the word. Indeed, “accountability” reverberates around the electronic ether almost as frequently as “thwarking.” It is the reality of persons, especially public persons, taking responsibility for acts of malfeasance in ways that entail exemplary punishment and personal costs.

The European Commission introduced in its Work Programme 2013 an action regarding “Environmental climate and energy assessment framework to enable safe and secure unconventional hydrocarbon extraction”.

After a decade characterised by the take-off of renewable energies, Germany decided in 2010 to make them the top priority. At the same time, it decided to make exemplary efforts in terms of energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gases. The audacious nature of this policy was strengthened by the “turn” taken in 2011 to give up nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima accident.

Hillary Clinton has been enthroned as the presumptive next President of the United States - by the celebrity mongers, by the trendy Hollywood set, by the media, by the pundits, by the big donors, by Congressional Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer and by the Las Vegas odds-makers. The crystallization of a consensus three years before the event is as intriguing as the questions about what sort of president she would make. 

Armed drones - as they enable targeted killings - are henceforward playing a central role in American counterterrorism.

Since the early 19th century, the swing state of Ohio has almost always voted for the same presidential candidate as the rest of the country. This is why every four years, politicians and the media pay so much attention to the Buckeye state.

The near meltdown of the United States government evoked worldwide dismay and confusion. Both reactions were especially acute among America’s well-wishers. For not only would they have suffered the consequences of a global economic crisis but they also feel dependent on the probity of American leadership. That dependence may stem in part from their own failures to assume their reasonable share of responsibility for sustaining an orderly international system - a state of affairs remarkably unaffected by the costly flaws in Washington’s custodianship over the past several years. It is nonetheless real.

Relations between Germany, France and Turkey have been strictly bilateral for a long time, with varying intensity, styles and areas of cooperation. The European perspective that is now part of these relations has introduced a three-way dynamic. 

On Tuesday Barack Obama called President Francois Hollande of France to explain the National Security Agency’s massive surveillance of French government offices, businesses and private citizens. Obama stated that this was a well-meaning attempt to protect both countries from Islamic terrorism. He offered to “reexamine” the program so as to determine whether the right balance was struck between public safety and privacy rights.

Do the peace talks between Japan and Russia, reopened in March 2013 by Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin, have any chance of success? A window of opportunity has indeed opened for an historic rapprochement between Russia and Japan. 

Until the adoption of the Lisbon treaty in December 2007, there was no explicit reference to space in the EU’s constitutive documents. While the European Space Agency has been active in space since the mid-1970s, the Union’s policy remained without a legal basis for space activities. Parallel to the treaties’ evolution however, the EU’s competences never stopped expanding to new fields, bringing it ever closer to space and its various applications. Creativity and dynamic uses of these existing competences have allowed the EU to progressively interfere with the space sector and to get closer to ESA.

Defending and renewing the global order is a priority for the United States and Europe. An important part of this effort will be accomplished if transatlantic partners can successfully engage four “global swing states” — Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey — in the management of global issues, because of their geopolitical and economic status, as well as their desire to have a stronger voice in the various international forums. Successful engagement of these nations will be key to preserving the international order and U.S. leadership.

Facing threats on all its borders as well as social, economic and religious tensions, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are now under significant pressure in accomplishing their core mission: the survival of the State of Israel.

The U.S. defense budget has faced a sharp reduction since 2010, linked to the drawing down of two wars and the Great Recession. 

This report aims to inform and stimulate the debate on key policy priorities for poverty reduction and food security in light of the Arab Awakening. 

The US shale gas revolution has shaken global gas markets. The US is on the eve of becoming self-sufficient in natural gas (and oil), thanks to the massive discoveries of unconventional resources on their territory, while being able to export part of their production. These developments have been closely watched by traditional oil and gas producers.

The twists and turns of the economic and political crisis in southern Europe are now an important parameter for relations between Europe and Turkey.

Facing threats on all its borders, as well as social, economic and religious tensions, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is now under significant pressure for ensuring its core mission: the survival of the State of Israel.

Except for its extreme poverty and the disastrous effects of a series of droughts, the Sahel region has been largely out of the spotlight of international attention in the past. Yet the rise of terrorism and especially the creation of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2007 brought the region into the focus of world politics. Initially, AQIM"s activities in the Sahel mainly posed a threat to the stability of the Sahelian states themselves. In an effort to internationalize its agenda, however, AQIM also started targeting Western countries.