Step into an elevator inside the world’s tallest building, and watch the lights dim as the doors close. The elevator begins to climb, and the darkness is broken by a video of other famous buildings, each taller than the next. Eventually, only a projection of the Burj Khalifa itself remains. Soaring 2,717 feet, it is roughly three Eifel Towers tall. Your ears confirm this, and after the elevator doors open to the observation deck, so do your eyes.
On December 15, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to end World War II. For over seven decades, a dispute over four islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories, has prevented a formal peace agreement. New research suggests a resolution is likely out of reach, but economic diplomacy could lay the groundwork for an eventual agreement.
It could take decades for OBOR to unfold. But it is a development that is worthy of greater attention from U.S. researchers and policymakers today.
If decades of torrid growth have been the opening scene on Asia’s economic stage, the region’s reconnecting—through new roads, railways, and other infrastructure—could be the next act.