In The News

Spirit of the Tiger (and Wild West)

Jane Perlez July 22, 2003
A traditional Javanese dance drama has begun to incorporate elements from American movies. Javanese men perform the traditional dance - a depiction of the historic indigenous resistance against Dutch colonialists - at important village events. This traditional art form has survived in spite of modernization and the increased integration of the Javanese region into the global economy. However,...

Take Mexico Instead

Abdel-Moneim Said July 21, 2003
If colonial ambitions are really the reason America invaded Iraq, why did it choose such a far-flung and relatively resource poor country, asks Egyptian political scholar Abdel-Moneim Said. Why not invade Mexico or Canada? They're closer, wealthier, and just as poor a military match for the superpower. According to Said, America would have every reason to invade these countries if it only...

Young Foreign Workers Fill Summer Shortages

Steven Greenhouse July 20, 2003
Foreign students love spending time in American resort towns, but they don't always come as tourists. Over the summer months, when small vacation spots like Cape Cod, Montauk, or Wisconsin Dells flood with visitors, university students from Eastern Europe and elsewhere take jobs unfilled, or undesired, by their American counterparts. Many work 80-hour weeks at minimum wage, cleaning...

Closing the Culture Gap

John Boudreau July 18, 2003
California's San Francisco Bay area attracts a diverse group of people from around the world who come to the US for work, pleasure, or study. When the love bug strikes, though, do cultural differences just fade into the background? Certainly not, says this article in San Jose's Mercury Times. Nonetheless, honest communication and an open mind can help bridge those inevitable cross-...

Xenophobia has no place in Thailand

Pravit Rojanaphruk July 16, 2003
Writing in Thailand’s major newspaper the author urges his fellow citizens not to view Burmese refugees as unwelcome invaders. Though historical enmity, national security, and the "ungratefulness" of Burmese people are regularly cited whenever there is a crackdown against student protestors or migrants, Thai people should not be blinded by mistrust. The reality is that, regardless of...

The Sweetest Revenge

Stefan Theil July 14, 2003
The 2,000 year old Jewish community in Uzbekistan in Central Asia is all but a relic of the past. Due to the economic crisis in Uzbekistan, the majority of its Jewish population is choosing to immigrate to Germany, more even than to Israel. As a result, only 60 years after the Holocaust decimated Germany's Jewish population, the influx of Central Asian Jews is revitalizing the Jewish-...

A Muslim Missionary Group Draws New Scrutiny in US

Susan Sachs July 14, 2003
Tablighi Jamaat, a conservative Muslim congregation of traveling proselytizers, is facing increasing scrutiny of its members and activities by the FBI in the United States. Founded 75 years ago in colonial India, the Tablighi Jamaat is a nonpolitical congregation of Muslim preachers, who – much like Christian missionaries – travel throughout the world to proselytize. The Tablighi Jamaat has a...