In The News

Egyptians decry 'gay' U.S. abusers in Iraq

Patrick Letellier May 17, 2004
Three hundred Egyptians rallied in Cairo last week, blaming the recent abuse at Abu Ghraib prison on “homosexual American executioners.” Graphic photos of American soldiers torturing and sexually abusing Iraqi prisoners have inspired anger across the Middle East. The Cairo protest worries human rights advocates, who say that tying torture to homosexuality fits into a larger political agenda. The...

A Transatlantic Divide

David Bowen May 13, 2004
David Bowen, a website effectiveness consultant for Bowen Craggs & Co., writes in this article on corporate website management that European companies use their websites to feature self-criticism in addition to standard self-promotion, resulting in effective counter-arguments against their critics. American companies, on the other hand, often omit any acknowledgement of criticism and instead...

The Indians Are Comin’

Sanjeev Srivastava May 10, 2004
Global interest in Indian economic and cultural practices is swelling rapidly, from the labor outsourcing debate to Bollywood film exports. In the United States, India is a topic for newspaper front pages, Indian corporations are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and audiences gather for the country’s art. Delhi is creating regional alliances with China and Pakistan, and all systems are go...

The Medium Shapes the Message

Seth Fein May 7, 2004
The fact that US President George W. Bush addressed audiences on Arab television this week made clear to all that Washington sees a need to communicate better with people in the Middle East about its policies and programs. Nonetheless, says Yale historian Seth Fein, past US efforts to promote American foreign policy goals through the media have met only with skepticism and distrust. A news...

New Prison Images Emerge

New Prison Images Emerge May 6, 2004
The shocking images that have emerged from Iraqi prisons, showing American and British soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners, have created a "combustible international scandal". The photos, taken with the digital cameras that soldiers brought with them to communicate with families back home, mimic tourist snapshots – except in their horrific content. Without this sort of...

Gay Asylum-Seeker Rejected as Too Butch

Ben Townley May 5, 2004
The rules of asylum have recently come under greater scrutiny, given their subjective nature. It is up to the applicant to prove to the host country that he or she deserves refuge, but it is fundamentally up to the host country to choose whether the applicant's reasons are sufficient – and this often brings out certain stereotypes and prejudices. A court case in Canada illustrates the...

Build an Encyclopedia: Everybody is Invited

Andrew Lih May 5, 2004
Many predicted that the rise of the Internet in the 1990s would herald an information technology 'revolution' that would change almost every aspect of human life. While the reality for many has proven less exciting than the hype, there is one small corner of cyberspace that is living up to the internet's potential as a free, democratic space for the exchange of ideas and...