Joshua Kulantzick surveys the state of global trade in the midst of this week's G8 talks.

Trade liberalization, tax reform, and transparency in corporate ownership and international development are at the top of the G8 agenda, but they may be overshadowed by the civil war in Syria. This issue guide compiles news and analysis on policies on the table and member state's compliance with past years' commitments.

Yes, the United States is pivoting to Asia, one of the reasons for the tête-à-tête last week between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. But behind the scenes, President Obama has actually been reorienting U.S. diplomacy toward Europe.

After over three decades of existence, the Group of Eight (G8) is struggling to defend its relevance amid criticism of its limited membership and lack of a compliance mechanism.

Peter Orszag explains that employment, in and of itself, may provide health benefits in the form of decreased rates of depression, increased mobility, and improved life expectancy as compared to those who are unemployed or retired.

On the heels of the Pacific Alliance's May 2013 summit meeting in California, Julia Sweig reflects on the significance of this new regional trade bloc and on the implications of Brazil's foreign trade and investment agenda.

Benn Steil's article in the June 2013 edition of History Today takes a critical look at John Maynard Keynes's performance as a diplomat during World War II, concluding that Britain had made a mistake sending him to Washington. His temperament and overinvestment in his personal legacy resulted in Britain paying a high political and economic price for American financial assistance.

Michael Spence writes that cooperation between the United States and China on issues surrounding the environment, trade, investment, and financial stability will be critical not only for the continued well-being of the two countries, but also for the successful rebalancing of the world economy.

Peter Orszag examines the puzzling demographic finding that the U.S. mortality rate falls by 0.3 percentage points for every one percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate.

The first foreign leader to visit Pakistan following its recent elections was the prime minister of China, signifying the close relations between the two countries. During the visit, Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari said, "Our top priority is to further strengthen economic linkages."

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Carla Robbins discusses the use and limits of sanctions as a foreign policy tool.

Peter Orszag writes that Americans report feeling like they switch jobs and move to new states more often now than in the past, but data show that the rates of job changes and interstate migration have actually declined.

Examines data including GDP, household debt, and industrial production to show the weakness of the current recovery compared to previous postwar rebounds.

Michael Spence argues that, although research suggests high debt levels have a negative effect on long-term growth, countries cannot restore growth through austerity measures alone.

Benn Steil's op-ed for Paul Solman's PBS The Business Desk site looks critically at calls for "a new Bretton Woods." He argues that many of the critical precepts behind the 1944 American Bretton Woods blueprint were overturned by the Truman Administration a mere three years later, and that the operation of the Bretton Woods monetary system was far briefer and more troubled than is typically reckoned.

Jose Alvarez, Herbert and Rose Rubin professor of international law at New York University School of Law, discusses the growth and distributional effects and the human rights implications of global economic governance through bilateral investment treaties, with a focus on the global south.

Charles Landow and Courtney Lobel trace the evolving similarities between Pittsburg and Bangalore's economic development.

Outside of a humanitarian crisis—such as a famine or a natural disaster—it is hard to make the case that any country deserves another's economic support. To paraphrase Britain's Lord Palmerston, countries do not have permanent friends, only permanent interests.

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America's generals understandably spend much of their time worrying about strong countries, notes Richard N. Haass. But in today's world, when the consequences of weakness in the remotest areas can quickly become global, the United States arguably has more to fear from weak countries.

To date, Chinese officials have asserted that their interest in Gwadar is strictly a commercial effort to provide another energy corridor for Middle East oil, and Pakistani government officials stridently affirm this position. New Delhi, on the other hand, has expressed "concern" about the true motivations in developing Gwadar, suspecting that it is a Sino-Pak effort at encirclement.

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