In The News

Anti-Immigrant Terror in South Africa

Megan Lindow May 21, 2008
South Africa has many shantytowns for the crowds of immigrants from neighboring nations, many hungry, impoverished and desperate for basic opportunity, legal or illegal. But resentment against immigrants is building in South Africa and mobs descend on the poorly protected and impoverished communities with a series of attacks, warning the foreigners to leave the country. “South Africans have been...

In India, Death to Global Business

Manjeet Kripalani May 10, 2008
Insurgents attacked an iron-ore processing plant in India, setting equipment, buses and trucks on fire – and warned the officials in Chhattisgarh to stop shipping local resources out of state. The Naxalites, who abide by a Maoist philosophy and resent ownership and capitalism, resort to violence to disrupt state and corporate activities. The movement began in one village in 1967 and since spread...

Globalization’s Aftershocks

Temma Ehrenfeld April 29, 2008
The new world order born out of the fall of the Soviet Union triggered fundamental changes in the global economy, many out of the reach of government regulation. Italian economist and author Loretta Napoleoni, in an interview with Newsweek, defines this trend of trade in unregulated markets as the rise of “rogue economics” – including black market sales, poaching of fish or rare species, as well...

Torch's Guards Have a Link to Tibet

Gordon Fairclough April 10, 2008
A global procession kicks off the Olympic Games, with athletes sharing the honor of bearing and passing off the lit torch. The journey starts in Athens and extends to cities throughout the world. But this year’s torch relay is complicated, as protesters line the route. Members of the People’s Armed Police of China – which provide security in China and assisted in quelling protests in Tibet –...

Pro-Tibet Groups Targeted In Cyberspace

Thomas Claburn April 9, 2008
Accusations fly about internet tactics, as pro-Chinese supporters clash with supporters of Tibet independence. Messages expressing support of Tibet independence include some sophisticated surveillance tools, reports Thomas Claburn for InformationWeek.com. Political activists are reporting internet interference and spyware accompanying what appear to be supportive e-mails from trusted sources. The...

Europe Poised to Bolster Web Shield

Doreen Carvajal April 3, 2008
The internet is not constrained by national borders, and individual nations struggle both to police cybercrime and protect themselves from cyberattack. Now, a year after intense denial-of-service attacks crippled much of the Baltic nation of Estonia’s internet infrastructure, European and US officials strive to boost their cooperation against online threats. Critics warn, however, that these...

Regulating the Global Commons – Part I

Scott Barrett March 26, 2008
The tragedy of the commons was a term popularized by Garrett Hardin in 1968, to describe the abuse of public goods. Without regulations or the protection provided by ownership, the population rushes to use any common area – whether public lands, oceans or the skies overhead – and the subsequent pressure can destroy sites open to all. This two-part series examines the need for tighter...