Asia & the Pacific

13 Items

Skyline of Boat Quay in Singapore, June 3, 2011. The cluster of skyscrapers in the right half of the photograph constitutes the Central Business District of Singapore.

Wikimedia CC 4.0

Analysis & Opinions - The Daily Nation

Africa Can Still Learn Important Lessons from Lee Kuan Yew's Work in Singapore

| March 24, 2015

"Lacking natural resources, the country was forced from the outset to adopt a long-term view that involved investing in human capital and imparting a strong work ethic. These are critical sources of economic transformation that continue to elude African countries. Their inability to focus attention on entrepreneurship, innovation, and management is partly a result of the excessive policy attention to the role of natural resources."

Magazine Article - Knowledge for Development

Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development

| April 10, 2013

In this new lead article, Prof. Calestous Juma, Harvard University and Prof. Yee-Cheong Lee, UNESCO, reflect on the progress made since the UN Millennium Project's Task Force report on science, technology and innovation (ST&I) was published. In 2005, the Task Force released the report Innovation: applying knowledge in development. It outlined a number of ways in which ST&I could be used to realize the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The authors claim that the report has played a key catalytic role in raising global awareness of the importance of ST&I in development.

Analysis & Opinions - Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work

Africa's Economic Growth Prospects

| February 15, 2013

"The rise in technocratic leadership in Africa is directly related to the emphasis that the continent is placing on economic transformation. But more important, there is growing preference for blending democratic change with managerial competence in running public affairs. This suggests a different type of governance system that combines western party politics and eastern technocracy. It would appear from these nascent trends that Africa is starting to shape its economic future by borrowing ideas from around the world and adapting them to local needs."

Analysis & Opinions - Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work

Development: Learning from Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew

| January 30, 2013

"The question of whether nations can learn from history nag policymakers around the world. Part of the problem is that history is handed down through a variety of interpretations that do not reflect reality. But contemporary history, if genuine presented, can offer policy makers with lessons they can learn from....Singapore's lessons for other developing countries have yet to be fully appreciated. This is partly because much of the discussion has tended to focus on rhetorical arguments about relationships between governance and economic growth."

Analysis & Opinions - Global Food For Thought

Biotechnology and Africa's Strategic Interests

| December 3, 2012

"Biotechnology offers Africa a wider range of economic opportunities than the Green Revolution did. It is already being used to improve food production and establish or revive cotton production. Its economic impact is therefore likely to go well beyond the farm sector to include industrial development."

Analysis & Opinions - Forbes

Africa And Obama: What The Continent Should Do In His Second Term

| November 9, 2012

"Africa's national diversity is becoming a burden for diplomatic interaction. It is more efficient for the United States to work with regional groups in Africa than with individual states. This means that efforts to foster regional integration by creating larger markets, simplifying trading rules, reducing corruption, and investing in regional infrastructure to promote movement of goods will go a long way toward strengthening US-Africa relations."

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Quarterly Journal: International Security

Belfer Center Newsletter Spring 2011

| Spring 2011

The Spring 2011 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights the Belfer Center’s continuing efforts to build bridges between the United States and Russia to prevent nuclear catastrophe – an effort that began in the 1950s. This issue also features three new books by Center faculty that sharpen global debate on critical issues: God’s Century, by Monica Duffy Toft, The New Harvest by Calestous Juma, and The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye.

Analysis & Opinions - Daily Yomiuri

Net Access for African Universities Would Boost Continent

| May 29, 2008

"African universities could be the continent's gateways into the global knowledge economy for local diffusion of new technologies. But this potential remains unrealized because universities and research institutes in Africa remain digitally isolated from the rest of the world. This is partly because of government neglect and lack of strategic policies on Internet access....Providing low-cost, high-speed Internet access to African universities will help Africa build the capacity it needs to solve its own problems. It is one of the most strategic investments that the G-8 countries can make in Africa in the coming few years."

Young women shop for China-made plastic flowers in a store opened by Chinese businessmen in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Jan. 3, 2007. In Africa, China has found a huge market for its cheap goods and the natural resources it needs to sustain its growth.

AP Photo

Newspaper Article - that's China

Exploring the Sino-African Relationship: Both Sides Have Something to Offer

| February 2, 2008

China's Ministry of Science and Technology launched the China-Africa Science and Technology Partnership on November 24, 2009.  The ministry announced that technological cooperation will be enhanced in areas such as water management and conservation, sanitation, crop breeding, health, and renewable energy. One hundred joint research partnerships will be created, and 100 African scientists at the postdoctoral level will have the opportunity to conduct research at China's technology parks, research institutes, and private enterprises. Chinese scientists and engineers will also travel to African countries to provide technical guidance, and in order to increase the research capacities of African countries, China will also donate laboratory equipment.

Science, Technology, and Globalization Project Director Calestous Juma shared his insights into the history and future of Sino-African relations in a February 2008 interview with that's China columnist Jing Zhang.

Kenyan Parliament

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Business Daily

Our MPs Should Keep off CDF

| December 20, 2007

"Kenyans go to the polls to elect leaders that they hope will help them improve their welfare. They have one powerful instrument against which to judge their performance: the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

Much attention has been devoted to CDF misuse. But a more serious issue is the conflict of interest among parliamentarians. There should be separation between legislative roles and executive functions as foreshadowed in the Constitution....Parliament is the right place to adopt laws that govern the use of funds. But MPs are unlikely to encourage legal provisions that demand higher accountability standards."