In The News

English or Hinglish - Does It Matter What Indian Students Are Learning?

Anjoo Mohun January 29, 2010
In India's bustling cities, language-mixing between English and India's other dozens of languages has led to the emergence of a culture that uses “Hinglish” – or Hindi mixed with English – in everything from casual conversation to Bollywood films. While “proper” English remains the language of job possibilities, Hinglish reveals how languages adapt to the societies where they spread,...

Confucius vs. Avatar: And the Winner is…

Mary Kay Magistad January 25, 2010
When the movie Avatar was mysteriously pulled from the cinemas in China, bloggers and pundits alike suspected censorship. But why would a science fiction movie about 10 foot tall blue hominids cause such a stir? For one, the themes of land expropriation and forced evictions featured in the movie resonated with the experiences of many Chinese, according to Beijing-based journalist Mary Kay...

The Internet: A Missing Link

Kathrin Hille January 22, 2010
Despite predictions that its spread would bring Chinese society more in tune with the West, the Internet in China “is growing less like the Internet in the rest of the world, not more like it.” Because Western companies like Google, hoping to foster freedom through information, fail to account for Chinese tastes, such as an affinity for playing online games rather than looking for news by...

Laos Steps into the Globalized World

Bertil Lintner December 15, 2009
Laos’ hosting of the Southeast Asian Games is in some way a metaphor for the country’s entrance into the globalized world. And Laos has crossed that threshold holding China’s hand, according to journalist Bertil Lintner. As a land-locked country, Laos decided to become “land-linked” to China. In other words, the constraints of geo-politics meant Vientiane had two choices: wallow in isolation or...

Brazil: Dances with Dragon

Alexandre de Freitas Barbosa December 1, 2009
The Confucius Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, one of the few cosmopolitan cities that does not feature a Chinatown, recently celebrated its first anniversary. The presence of the Institute is not only a sign of China’s rising soft power, but also the many ways in which China and Brazil have become intertwined, according to professor Alexandre de Freitas Barbosa. The most important, of course, is...

Globalization Unchecked: How Alien Media is Suffocating Real Culture

Ramzy Baroud November 23, 2009
Globalization is creating “cultural schizophrenia” in developing nations, which lack the ability to protect their traditional ways of life against the constant bombardment of a dazzling and well-packaged Western culture. The author, reflecting on his travels in the Muslim world − a Muslim family watching a barely-clad Beyonce on MTV or Turkish youths playing an American video game that involves...

How to Let Islam and the West Live in Harmony

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono November 23, 2009
The recently-re-elected president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, says that religiosity will continue to rise in coming years. But it will come against the backdrop of rising multiculturalism and tolerance as people realize that cooperation and democracy can help transcend global challenges like climate change and terrorism. To ensure this tolerance is secured, Yudhoyono calls for the...