The drop in the price of oil is threatening Venezuela’s internal stability: for every ten dollars that it drops, Caracas will lose five billion dollars each year, which will bring the country to bankruptcy.

Asia-Pacific is the region in which the United States’ ability to face up to its greatest geopolitical challenge will be made clear; it is there where the desire to strengthen a multipolar order expected to weaken the hegemonic American condition can be most intensely felt.

The crisis sweeping the financial markets, epicentered in Wall Street, is bringing both fear and opportunities to the countries of South America. The author states that the trade agreement between Mercosur and the State of Israel is a step forward. The challenge lies in creating policies that soften the effects of this global crisis.

• Mercosur’s unresolved agenda, 16 years after its creation
  por

The crisis is situational. It was the modest home buyer’s fault. The problem was caused by easy-to-fix technical errors. We must listen to the credit rating agencies so that what occurred on Wall Street will not happen in Latin America. The top executives also lost, because their stocks fell. With small tweaks to the model, everything can be fixed.

• Removing ethics from the economy has been a great failure
  por

While the year 2008 will be remembered as an annus horribilis for the principal Western banking entities, the so-called Islamic banks will close out the year with it being of the best in their short history. Read on to discover why.

China is an infinitely complex country, where poverty coexists with the most daring and sophisticated demonstrations of progress. But, the author states, despite its historical violent lurches, the CCP is spearheading a peerless economic and social experiment.

• Will China cease to be a rural country?
  por

With the overblown headlines and triumphant images having just faded away, it is necessary to analyze in detail the general strategy and tactical work plan to come out of the global summit held to calm the financial chaos and the global recession.

• Ten key answers, following the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy
  por

Latin American pensions have lost between 15 to 20 percent of their value. Income from the exportation of raw materials is shrinking. SME’s are having difficulties accessing new markets. Layoffs are occurring left and right. In spite of governmental efforts, the world crisis will continue to swallow up Latin America’s achievements.

• The middle class will shape Latin America's future
  por

In late October, Taoist masters from all over China gathered near the ancient capital of Nanjing to agree on a seven-year plan for climate change action. Meanwhile, the 11 major religions in the world are all coming up with multi-year plans for climate action. The author wonders if this could tip the scales in favour of decisive climate action in China and beyond.

• Ecological challenges: how to move from declarations to actions
  por