In The News

A Passage from India

Suketu Mehta July 12, 2005
Author Suketu Mehta moved to America from India as a teenager with the expectation that it would bring him and his family economic prosperity. As he writes in The New York Times, future generations of Americans may find themselves trying to travel in the opposite direction, as more US companies move jobs to India. In a sense, India's gains from outsourcing are the rewards of decades of hard...

Camera Phones Lend Immediacy to Images of Disaster

Yuki Noguchi July 8, 2005
The invention of camera phones has allowed everyday people to capture images of great political and social significance in an unprecedented way, sometimes beating professional photojournalists to the punch. Several survivors of yesterday's terror attacks in London recorded images of bombed subway cars and fellow victims on their camera phones. Their pictures were broadcast to the world on...

Chinese Quotas Kill the Pain but Not the Problem

Elliot Schrage July 6, 2005
In response to US and European manufacturers' fears of their low-cost Chinese competitors, the European Commission has pressured China to re-impose quotas on clothing and textiles exports. But these measures, like the currency revaluations favored by the Bush administration, will do little to solve the problem at hand. Instead, commentator Elliot Schrage suggests that a healthy trade...

In India, Economic Prosperity Is Spreading Slowly

Saritha Rai July 5, 2005
The boom in India's technology sector, and its status as the top destination for many American and European outsourcers, has brought the country high growth and a widespread boost in standard of living – at least for the middle and upper classes. But the majority of Indians, especially those in outlying rural areas, still live in poverty and do not reap the benefits of India's success...

CNOOC Is Not Yet Ready for Unocal

July 4, 2005
As one of the countries that host Unocal's energy holdings, Thailand will experience the direct effects of the US oil company's acquisition by either American-owned Chevron or China's CNOOC. This editorial emphasizes that though Thailand values its relationship with the United States and its ties with China equally, the country's business community would prefer that Chevron...

A Message to the South

Boutros Boutros-Ghali June 30, 2005
Is the UN in crisis? Former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali thinks so. He claims that the liberalized theories of globalization have eroded the importance of the UN’s core powers and responsibilities, and that solutions to the crisis are long-term and intricate. The newest crop of post-Cold War conflicts, increasingly difficult to resolve, leave a larger peacekeeping role for the UN. But...

Asian Reaction to Unocal Bid Is Muted

Wayne Arnold June 30, 2005
China’s pending bid for Unocal, a California-based oil company, has profound implications for several Southeast Asian countries, where about half of Unocal’s assets are located. And yet these countries – Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar – appear less concerned about the possible transfer of power from the US to China than most American policy-makers are. Part of this lackadaisical...