After a year of non-stop bad news it is good to see little shards of light emerge from the darkness. The recent European Chamber Business Confidence Survey 2009, done in conjunction with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, produces the necessary illumination.

Many believe that modern think-tanks were born in the United States, but China has a partnership between intellectuals and policymakers that dates to ancient dynasties. As China's era of technocrats winds down, a weighted emphasis on the social sciences has

To the United States, Central Asia is a region of crisis, whereas to China it is a region of opportunity to realize its political, strategic and economic aspirations. If India is to catch up in this region, where it has

If the United States is not openly on the side of the Uyghurs, there are plenty of signs of substantive support. One that's getting notice in Washington and Beijing is the role of the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-governmental

Poorly Made in China by Paul Midler Lead paint in toys and melamine in baby milk formula are not surprises to the author but predictable outcomes from a manufacturing culture in China that takes customers for granted and assumes no

Funds flowing in from foreign investors and a sense that a worldwide economic recovery may be genuinely on the way helped to drive Asian stocks to strong gains - but don't count your dividends until they're in the bank. R

Spiraling industrial demand for silver and the amazing failure of mines to meet demand can mean only two things: prices will inevitably have to reflect this mismatch and anyone not preparing for the inevitable is going to feel so, so

Microsoft, under challenge from Google across an increasing range of products, is to risk cutting into the vast profit it makes from the Office productivity suite by making a free online version. Whoever said competition is bad for consumers? Martin

The heart of Kabul is now hidden behind grey sandbags protecting men out of their depth, projecting also their fears. A new documentary film shows how hard it is to recognize an enemy or help a friend in Afghanistan, where

The financial panic of 2007-08 and the ensuing great recession have changed the balance of wealth in the global financial arena. The big question is whether Asian institutions can take advantage of the change and step up into a leadership

Refugees are slowly trickling back to their homes in the Pakistani tribal areas after several months of military operations against Taliban militants. Islamabad touts this as proof that its heavy hand is doing the job. The reverse is closer to

Suicide bombings at two luxury hotels in Jakarta on Friday morning spoiled a triumphant moment for Indonesia. After veering toward chaos a decade ago, the archipelago had witnessed a four-year lull in terror attacks en route to becoming the world's

National JALT (The Annual International Conference of the Japan Association for Language Teaching). November 22 (Sun), in Shizuoka Japan. Deadline for submissions: Friday 24th April, 2009.

While there are some serious disputes over the monuments, representing various eras in the history of the post-Soviet states, people in Kazakhstan are quite tolerant to such endeavors. For instance, Stalinв ™s monument is still located in Ikan area, close

Less than a month prior to presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan Ferghana.Ru correspondent walked through the streets of Bishkek to learn how the presidential candidates run their campaign and convince the voters that "they are the best". He was not able

The XVIII Asian, African, and Latin American Film Festival took place between June 9 and 16 in Innsbruck, Austria. Prominent Uzbek film director Nazym Abbasov presented his "Oidinoi" or "The Moon-Faced" there. The film won two awards. Abbasov himself was

Colonel Blaine Holt, new commander of Manas US AF Base, does not rule out the possibility that the Pentagon will retain military presence in Kyrgyzstan. The American military in general is convinced that this is something to be decided by

The heads of states comprising the Shanghai Cooperation Organization converge on Yekaterinburg for another, two-day, summit. The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are coming from Moscow where they attended a meeting of the CIS Collective Security Council,

The period between President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's memorable statement in the Kremlin on the decision to shut down the US air base and the recent permission to the United States to retain military presence in Kyrgyzstan was a period of confusion.

Sixty years ago the last Japanese army prisoners left Tajikistan. They never did careless work; that is why Japanese were assigned to build the important strategic objects: dams, houses, channels. The channels, constructed by Japanese, still do not need repairs