The remittances sent home from Mexicans working in the US adds entries to both sides of the balance sheet. First, the negative: the billions of dollars sent from immigrants living and working in the US to their family members around Mexico reflect a weak labor market and a scarcity of […]

Biographical blog describing life in Syria amid the current political instability, supposedly written by a struggling gay woman has been revealed to be a hoax. Amina Abdallah Arraf al-Omari a 25-year-old, half-Syrian, half American lesbian living in Damascus documented her life in a blog entitled “Gay Girl in Damascus”, dating back to […]

For many in the West, particularly Americans, remittances play a relatively inconsequential role in their daily routine.  This is somewhat unsurprising given the fact that in the overall context of developed “host” countries’ economies, remittances generally make up a rather small portion. For instance, the United States was the leading […]

With the race on to reduce global warming and fossil fuel dependency, experts in alternative energy see a bright future for renewable resources like wind, solar, hydro-power and geothermal energy. QUEST and Climate Watch team up to look at the “Smart Grid” of the future and how it might be […]

China and the United States are the world’s biggest consumers of oil. To understand the impact that oil reserves can have on the governance of a resource-rich country it is equally important to take into account the role of oil-consuming countries.