GIS Feature

France used to be one of the European Union’s “twin engines” along with Germany. These days, this once-proud civilization is considered more of a problem than a solution for the European project. Its economy is ailing under excessive government spending and overregulation, its enterprises are stifled by a rigid system ...

Since coming to office in 2014, Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi has offered his country a mixed bag. He has brought stability and economic growth but cracked down on political opposition and dissident voices. Shunned by the West at first, he turned to Russia for support. Now, with a new administration ...

While corruption has spurred political change in Latin America, it remains the basic currency of power in many other parts of the world. This is particularly evident in post-communist regimes like Russia, where private fortunes can be amassed and confiscated at the whim of a tiny elite. This appropriation of ...

Early in this century, the U.S. unexpectedly moved from being a major natural gas importer to a significant exporter and changed its energy consumption to a more environment-friendly mix. It all happened due to its development of shale gas production. The world’s two other major gas markets – Europe and ...

Nearly 20 years after its historic default, Argentina is still trying to climb back to economic equilibrium. Years of corruption and mismanagement frittered away profits from natural resource exports, while a “gradualist” approach to reform still ended in Latin America’s largest-ever bailout from the IMF. This GIS Dossier reviews our ...

Graft has long been a feature of political systems where rewarding loyalty takes precedence over economic efficiency or the rule of law. But recent events in Latin America show that popular anger at corruption has become a force to be reckoned with – fueled by the power of global markets, ...

Three sub-Saharan African countries, all with decades-long, devastating civil wars behind them. Two are populous and large, well-endowed in natural riches, while one is a small, landlocked nation with no particular resources. Which one is Africa’s poster child of economic and developmental success today? This GIS Dossier examines why the ...

Vietnam, with its more than 3,400-kilometer coastline on the South China Sea, its growing economy and its large military, is a linchpin of Southeast Asia. It also lies at the crux of global powers’ interests in the region. So far, it has managed to maximize its independence, but rapidly changing ...