Popular dissatisfaction in China as a result of deteriorating air quality has become more intrusive after several serious smog alarms in many Chinese cities: In January 2013, air quality reached very high and dangerous levels for particle density «PM 2.5». These particles penetrate the lungs and bloodstream and are very small – less than 2.5… Read More »
Xi Jinping became President of China in 2013. From the outset, it became clear that his government would pursue a quite different policy from its predecessor Hu Jintao – both in form and content. What is a highway to the pinnacles of power in China? What challenges does Xi and the new rulers face? How… Read More »
5: Law and order – anti-corruption The focus on law and governance in Xi’s “four necessities policy” was not surprising given the government’s strong emphasis on fighting corruption, which has long threatened to reach beyond controllable levels. The issue of corruption really came to the fore as Hu was about to leave the presidency. The… Read More »
5: 2014: China became the world’s largest economy 2014 was the year when China overtook the United States and became the world’s largest economy – at least measured by purchasing power. Measured in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, China is still low compared with the western level. This means that China still has to… Read More »
The year 2014 will be known as the year when Chinese foreign policy underwent its most marked shift since the reform and opening policy of Deng Xiaoping from the late 1970s. Less than two years after President Xi Jinping took over the helm of state, the Chinese have become far more visible in Asia, the… Read More »
Burma is a resource-rich country with around 55 million people. However, due to years of mismanagement, most people live in poverty and deprivation. In the last couple of years, however, reforms have been implemented that offer hope for democracy , more freedom and better welfare. Why is Burma back on the international agenda? What are… Read More »
6: Big challenges The authorities in Burma face even more major challenges: The population consists of many ethnic minorities who for several years have been in armed conflicts with the central authorities. Ceasefire agreements have been signed with most of these. But in the state of Kachin , fighting continues. Other ethnic groups have said… Read More »
5: Child health and far-sighted gender policy In a comment on the positive health results in Bangladesh, the well-known economist Amartya Sen emphasizes the importance of the country emphasizing the reduction of the gender gap . Sen emphasizes that the driving force lay in the policy pursued after the liberation in 1971. The issue of… Read More »
3: The Bangladesh Paradox Progress in Bangladeshis in many ways a paradox. The country has a population of around 153 million and is the eighth most populous country in the world. Thirty years ago, the prospects for Bangladesh were bleak. It was a country many believed would be dependent on aid for all time to… Read More »
From 1990 to 2012, infant mortality in the world was almost halved; it went down from 12.6 million to 6.6 million. However, 18,000 children still die every day before the age of five. Bangladesh is an exceptional case: the country has managed to reduce child mortality significantly in a few decades, despite the fact that… Read More »
8: China’s role The Chinese do not want the North Korean regime to collapse. Not out of love for a communist neighbor, for the Juche ideology rejects Marxism-Leninism and prescribes economic, cultural and ideological independence. The regime also engages in a bizarre cult of personality around the Kim family. The Chinese support the regime because… Read More »
In 2013, the conflict on the Korean Peninsula has intensified again. The vocabulary is extremely aggressive and the provocative actions many. Is the conflict really as threatening as it may seem at first glance? How is North Korea’s nuclear history? What are the characteristics of the conflict in Korea? What motives do the parties have?… Read More »
5: The conflict escalates The conflict took another serious turn on 7 March 2013. At that time, the Security Council adopted new sanctions in response to the nuclear test on 12 February. North Korea then withdrew from the ceasefire agreement, cut the military communications line to Seoul, and used an even more threatening language than… Read More »
The intergovernmental cooperation body Arctic Council has existed since 1996. After a fairly anonymous existence in the first years, it has become the most important forum for the polar region. It gets attention from all over the world. The starting point for establishing the Arctic Council was cooperation on environmental protection and work against pollution.… Read More »
5: Ship traffic and shipping routes Less ice in the Arctic Ocean could lead to more ship traffic in the new shipping lanes between Asia and Europe, but the forecasts for how many boats will sail in the north are still uncertain. The number of sailing days between Shanghai and Rotterdam can be reduced from… Read More »
8: Asia and Arctic research In the media, before the meeting in Kiruna, the Asian countries were often described as newcomers to the Arctic and polar regions. That’s not right. Several Asian states have extensive experience in polar research. Research stations in Antarctica were established by Japan in 1957, China in 1985 and South Korea… Read More »
Norway has a responsibility as a UN and NATO member , but also to the Afghan people: “(…) we have a task to do by standing by the Afghan people” (Støre 2008). The Minister of Defense says that “we will not leave Afghanistan until the Afghan people feel confident that peace will last” (Strøm-Erichsen 2008a).… Read More »
4: 2002–2005: Peace argumentation and offensive defense The Taliban regime was overthrown as early as 2001. The focus is now shifting towards peace and nation building , in addition to making the commitment more directly relevant to the defense of Norway. As early as December 2001, the Minister for Development Aid stated that “the United… Read More »
What is a just war? What goals did the Norwegian authorities set for Norwegian participation in Afghanistan? What did the government hold on to all the time for the Norwegian participation? How did the goals change along the way? In this article, we look at the language that Norwegian governments used in the argument –… Read More »
7: Reasons for the progress There are many different factors that have influenced the development: Migration income . Around 1980, many Bangladeshis began to find work in the Middle East. The workers were largely unskilled and wages were low. Still, many could send one to two thousand kroner a month home to the family. In… Read More »
4: Gloomy prospects in the 1970s A fairly typical example of the situation of the poor was our neighbor Mosum Ali and his family. He had inherited two acres of land from his father which he gradually had to sell in order to buy food. While we lived in the village, he was mortgaging the… Read More »
In several countries, questions are raised as to whether development assistance contributes to development. The Norwegian social anthropologist Eirik G. Jansen has a better vantage point than most to answer the question. In the late 1970s, he lived and worked for several long periods in the village of Shusunda in Bangladesh to study the living… Read More »
Chinese literature [ç-], China has the longest living history of literature. The only question is when to start this story – one is dealing with the problem of defining literature. Fine literature, early historiography, and ancient philosophy are not neatly separated in China. As a result, a history of Chinese literature also includes works of… Read More »
With Zhu Yuanzhang, the despotic absolutism of the Chinese empire began, which has decisively shaped the image of China in the West. He eliminated the one and a half millennia old institution of the chancellor as head of the bureaucracy; all central and provincial authorities were directly subordinate to him. He was supported by a… Read More »
It was believed at the time of the Song that the decline of the Tang dynasty was due to an excessive emphasis on pure aesthetics and an excessive lack of moral orientation on the part of the individual. In the literature one tried to solve problems only in an aesthetic way. Now, after the complete… Read More »
The Mongols had always come into contact with several cultural influences in their traditional settlement area. Shamanistic, Buddhist and popular religious elements combined in their religion. They were indifferent to Confucianism, at most they showed interest in popular Daoism. But other Chinese and foreign religions – Nestorian Christianity, Judaism, Islam – were tolerated, and the… Read More »
According to whicheverhealth, BRICS emphasizes its openness to the outside world. China’s historical experience is unequivocal in this respect: In periods of openness, things have gone well, while in periods of introversion, things have gone badly. India opened up around 1990 and is phasing out more and more of its subsidies and safeguards. For Brazil… Read More »
10 years ago, the term BRIC was launched – Brazil, Russia, India, China. In 2009, the BRIC countries met for the first time – as part of a regular cooperation – with Russia as host. The second meeting took place in Brazil in 2010, and this year it was China’s turn. South Africa was also… Read More »
6: The BRICS countries in the geopolitical picture According to topbbacolleges, the BRICS countries are too different to represent any collective political weight. They do not constitute an economic and political bloc. Apart from increasing contact with each other, the common denominator is solid domestic challenges . The Chinese have minority problems, among other things.… Read More »
The surprise was great when the world had stood together and the UN Millennium Development Goals had largely been reached in 2015. In the same year, the eight Millennium Development Goals were replaced with 17 new sustainability goals and skepticism has not been long in coming. Because will we be able to achieve the ambitious… Read More »