Articles
World Events Summary: 2nd-8th January 2018
Iran Protests: after a week of relatively (vs 2009) broad-based but thinly supported demonstrations a coherent leadership or set of demands remained elusive. This has allowed all sides of the political divide to try and claim ownership, regardless of the ‘attack...
World Events Summary: 9th-15th January 2018
Canada, NAFTA, WTO: as the U.S.-instigated renegotiation of NAFTA nears its crucial phase unnamed Canadian government sources briefed Reuters about increasing concern regarding the potential for Trump to pull-out of the deal. In anticipation, Canada took a case to the...
World Events Summary: 16th – 22nd January 2018
US Shutdown: political dysfunction in the U.S. continued to masquerade as an economic argument, resulting in another short-term government closure, followed by a deal to push out the real debate until 8th February. The compact calls for a vote on limited immigration...
World Events Summary: 23rd – 29th January 2018
US Trade: Trump imposed broad tariffs on U.S. imports of Washing Machines and Solar cells. This provoked Beijing’s criticism, while South Korea initiated two cases against the U.S. at the WTO. The controversial 292% tariffs imposed by the U.S. Commerce...
World Events Summary: 30th January – 5th February 2018
State of the Union: Trump’s chance to show he is presidential was long on domestic affairs but missed opportunities to demonstrate a joined-up foreign policy approach. His calls for bi-partisan cooperation to fix the immigration system and invest US$1.5tn on...
World Events Summary: 6th-12th February 2018
U.S. Budget Deal: Congress showed that one of the only areas it can agree upon is to spend more money – discretionary spending will increase by US$300bn in coming years. The further run-up in the deficit (after tax cuts) makes execution of Trump’s US$1.5tn...