Tag: United States

  • Daily Update, June 21, 2012

    This is an experiment. In my new position, I need to keep close track of news developments. Perhaps a good way to do this is to build a daily briefing, in the tradition of Bill Bishop’s update at Sinocism or Politico’s morning e-mail, or indeed of this blog’s former practice of posting Del.icio.us links. Only…

  • The private sector battle over SOPA (me in Al Jazeera)

    Following yesterday’s demonstrations against U.S. Congressional legislation that could severely constrict free speech and online innovation, I argue in Al Jazeera English that private interests in internet policy are here to stay. It would have been the most expensive political ad buy in the history of the world. Google’s search engine, the most visited website in the…

  • China, Japan, and Transpacific Academic Exchange: New Data

    China is the hot new place to study abroad. That’s the headline The New York Times culls from the Institute of International Education’s new report on educational exchanges between the United States and a battery of other countries. But China is still only the fifth most common destination for U.S. students, and is still second…

  • Is Venezuela selling oil to China instead of to the U.S.?

    The United States is importing less oil from Venezuela, and China is buying more. Is Venezuela putting its resources where Hugo Chávez’s mouth is and using the country’s major export as a geopolitical lever? Or are U.S. imports just catching up with a 10-year decline in Venezuelan production? The U.S. Energy Information Administration released April…

  • How the U.S. Invented Illegal Immigration to Keep Out Chinese

    Undocumented immigration today, though mostly debated with Latin Americans and the southern border of the United States in mind, cuts across racial boundaries. At American Heritage, Claire Lui has a useful reminder of where illegal immigration began: the Chinese Exclusion Act. Here’s a start: On May 6, 1882, a century and a quarter ago today,…