Myanmar is in the midst of a long and difficult multifaceted transition, involving political liberalization, economic reform, and the resolution of multiple long-standing civil conflicts. The country has a history of ethno-religious conflict and separatism. Civil-military relations are muddy,...

In recent years, South Korea has been a major investor in North Korea, and South Korean firms have employed more than 50,000 North Korean workers. The hope has been to use economic engagement to lessen the North's direct state control over the economy and to encourage greater internal opening....

North Korea's confiscatory currency reform and the subsequent ban on the use of foreign currencies are economically misguided policies and will result in the reduction of North Korean residents' welfare. These developments come at an inopportune time with the country facing economic stagnation,...

The creation of an enduring multilateral security and peace mechanism for Northeast Asia and the furthering of regional economic cooperation have been identified as components of a final resolution of the North Korean nuclear controversy in the Six Party Talks among the United States, China,...

North Korea is on the brink of famine. The aggregate food picture appears worse than at any time since the famine of the 1990s. The margin of error between required grain and available supply is now less than 100,000 metric tons. Local food prices are skyrocketing faster than world prices. The...

Despite the passage of 50 years since an armistice ended military hostilities, the Korean peninsula remains divided, a Cold War vestige that seemingly has been unaf-fected by the evolution that has occurred elsewhere. If anything, US confrontation with North Korea--a charter member of its "axis...

The Middle East is a demographic time bomb. According to the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Arab Human Development Report 2002, the population of the Arab region is expected to increase by around 25 percent between 2000 and 2010 and by 50 to 60 percent by 2020--or by perhaps 150...

The World Bank began this decade talking of Asian miracles. It may enter the next one speaking of Asian depressions. After World Bank Vice President for Asia Jean-Michel Severino used the "d" word in May to describe the course of events in developing Asia, the organization was forced to come up...

China's rise as an economic power in the last quarter century has posed a range of challenges for the rest of the world, especially in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007–09. To elucidate the issues and deepen understanding between China and the United States, the Peterson...