Beijing's Global Media Offensive (New Book)

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James M. Lindsay, Council on Foreign Relations, "My sense is that China has consciously decided over the last decade or so, to try to use media power to influence politics in other countries. Can you tell me a little bit about what China has been doing, and why it's pursuing these efforts?"

Joshua Kurlantzick, author of Beijing's Global Media Offensive: China’s Uneven Campaign to Influence Asia and the World:  "Well, I think within the last ten years to twelve years, China, under Xi Jinping decided that the global discourse, both about China and about all sorts of events that relate to China, because virtually every event relates to China, the discourse or the discourse power, as China refers to it, are being dominated by liberal democracies and their media outlets."

Read the entire interview and Mr. Kurlantzick's complete answer here.  

America's Export Goals Target Small Businesses

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Only 4 percent of U.S. small businesses export, according to the Small Business Administration. Fortune 500 firms dominate exports, even though they comprise a small percentage of U.S. businesses.

Our friend, esteemed colleague and foreign correspondent, Josh Kurlantzick (check out his book "Charm Offensive"), writes a good piece on:

Obama's Export Goals Target Small Business for AllBusiness.com

One of my comments was:

What’s more, she says, history suggests small companies respond to these initiatives: As the Commerce Department has expanded its Gold Key program, which helps exporters connect with potential buyers overseas, demand for Gold Key has increased steadily among small companies. And once these entrepreneurs stick their toes into exporting, they learn that they can manage some of the risks. Besides Gold Key, entrepreneurs who work with the Export-Import Bank can get credit insurance that steps in and pays exporters when customers don’t. “Once you have that security,” says Delaney, “exporting doesn’t seem so scary.”

Read the entire article here.

Exporting Need Not Be Scary

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Our friend and bright colleague, Joshua Kurlantzick did a solid piece for AllBusiness.com on Obama's export goals which target small businesses. Here's my favorite snippet from his article:

Unfortunately, the gap between political rhetoric and real-world reality is wide. A mere 4 percent of U.S. small businesses export, according to the Small Business Administration. Indeed, Fortune 500 firms dominate exports, even though they comprise a small percentage of U.S. businesses.

We thank Joshua for reaching out to us and including our remarks in his article. Read it here and get on the export express train!