Waterloo, Ontario – September 17, 2009 – The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is hosting a public panel discussion on September 24, entitled The Global Financial and Environmental Crises: Connections and Parallels?

China's spectacular economic progress has led some security analysts and policy makers in the North and the South to question Beijing's intentions in other parts of the world. This paper examines the extent to which China's engagement with Africa has produced mutual benefits for both and whether Africa is reaping the necessary benefits required for poverty alleviation and economic development. Chinese state-owned enterprises have invested billions of dollars in foreign reserves, construction and engineering resources assisting African oil-producing exporters. While many in the West have started to question China's extraordinary level of interest in Africa - in particular, its economic engagement with perceived repressive regimes - African leaders view China's entry as a means of pulling Africa onto the path of globalization. It is thus important that African leaders and policy makers ensure that Chinese trade and investment bring reciprocal and tangible benefits for Africans, and contribute to economic stability and good governance.

The small economies of the Caribbean have entered a period of extraordinary economic uncertainty driven by the impact of new trade rules on the region's agricultural sector; dramatic advances in technology that have lowered barriers to entry; and fierce global competition from large, low-wage countries in Asia. Furthermore, the Caribbean nations' ability to sustain a high level of social well-being is suffering due to the effects of broader economic change that has left the region in a reactive position. Against this backdrop, the services sector in the Caribbean may serve as an important source of economic growth, but only if the region begins to move beyond tourism to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the areas of banking and financial services, call centres and information and communication technology, off-shore education and health services, and transportation. This essay assesses the future prospects for the Caribbean to create a thriving service-based economy and offers ideas to help the region to both build on and transcend its reliance on tourism to carve a more profitable and sustainable niche in the global economy.

The G8 recently discussed energy, with the stage set by the German Green agenda. In taking these tortuous paths, it is useful to form a phalanx with peer groups, which is what the Indian Prime Minister did through solidarity with the Bricsam: Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and Mexico.