Resources Archive

One of China’s top military leaders has warned the United States not to interfere in a territorial spat between Beijing and Tokyo. World News Videos by NewsLook

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission narrowly approved reporting rules intended to curb corruption in resource extraction and to combat human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, also called the “conflict minerals provision,” requires that companies determine the origin of the metals they use and disclose whether they contain minerals from conflict zones, including the DRC and neighboring African countries.* “The SEC’s ruling is one more important piece of the puzzle to resolving the conflict in eastern Congo,” Sasha Lezhnev, senior policy analyst at the Washington-based human rights organization Enough, told […]

Following a series of activist protests, tensions are once again rising in East Asia over the ownership of a small, uninhabited archipelago that lies between Taiwan and Japan. The specifics of this recent episode highlight the depth of nationalist sentiments held among the peoples of China, Japan and even Taiwan when it comes to matters of national territory. This is not merely a dispute over fishing grounds and potential oil and gas deposits; it is a matter of historical grievances and national pride. On Aug. 15, the anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II, a group of activists […]

South Korea unveils a new monument on a disputed Pacific island amid rising tensions with Japan. World News Videos by NewsLook

For the first time in several decades, Iraq reclaimed its place as the second-largest OPEC oil producer in July. Iraq produced more than 3 million barrels per day (bpd) over the month, surpassing Iran, whose production fell to 2.9 million bpd. The development resulted from a combination of Iraq’s gradually increasing oil output and Iran’s decreasing production due to the growing impact of international sanctions on Iran’s energy production sector. During the past five years, Iran’s oil production has decreased by about 1 million bpd due to various multinational and unilateral sanctions on its commercial activities. Meanwhile, Iraq’s output has […]

Japan-South Korea relations appear to have reached their nadir with the unprecedented visit of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to the disputed Dokdo islets last week. Lee’s visit represents a dramatic escalation in the territorial dispute with Japan, which also claims sovereignty over the atoll, known in Japan as Takeshima. The visit marks the first time a South Korean head of state has made an official visit, a redline that had not been breached up until this point in order to avoid provoking a diplomatic crisis with Japan. Lee toured the atoll’s largest island, met with coast guard officials stationed […]

Japan announces that it will take South Korea to court to settle a dispute over an island chain believed to sit atop billions of dollars worth of natural gas. World News Videos by NewsLook

Several European Union countries recently asked the European Commission to consider sanctions against Iceland for allegedly exceeding its fishing quota for mackerel. In an email interview, Eirikur Bergmann, an associate professor of political science at Bifrost University in Iceland, discussed the mackerel dispute between the EU and Iceland. WPR: What is the background of the current fishing dispute between Iceland and the European Union? Eirikur Bergmann: Backed by France, Portugal, Ireland and Spain, the European Union is considering sanctions against Iceland and the Faroe Islands for overfishing of mackerel, a pelagic fish stock in the North Atlantic. Mackerel has an […]

Nearly two weeks of continuous rain have caused floods to sweep through Manila as well as nearby areas, killing at least 23 people so far and affecting nearly 2 million. The deadly floods in the Philippine capital are the latest in a series of flooding-related disasters to strike the region. Last month, the heaviest rainfall to hit Beijing, China, in six decades forced the evacuation of 650,000 people from their homes, while three months of heavy rains in Bangkok, Thailand, last year claimed at least 500 lives. According to Edward Blakely, honorary professor of urban policy at the University of […]

While foreign investors might be feeling a lot of uncertainty about Bolivia’s resource sector policy, one thing is perfectly clear: Bolivian President Evo Morales is firmly in control of any foreign-funded project seeking to develop the country’s natural resource wealth. And when partnerships with foreign investors turn sour, he has not hesitated to seize the underlying assets. That has occurred with surprising frequency this year. In the past four months, Bolivia has nationalized a Canadian company’s silver mine, a tin and zinc mine operated by the Swiss commodities giant Glencore and a Spanish electric grid operation. To say nothing of […]

With peril looming on both countries’ economic horizons, Sudan and South Sudan brokered a milestone oil-transit agreement over the weekend to the effusive praise of the international community. The deal represents a breakthrough after months of heightened tensions. South Sudan shut down oil production eight months ago over transit cost disagreements. Juba also accused the Khartoum government of siphoning southern oil and confiscating shipments in lieu of unpaid transit fees. In April, the two historical adversaries neared the brink of full-scale border war after South Sudan temporarily seized Sudan’s primary oil production site in Heglig. “Now was the time to […]