In The News

Book Fair Defends Chinese Invitation

October 15, 2009
This year, China is the special guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest. Given China’s history and habit of censorship, its place of honor at an event celebrating the free flow of ideas has drawn criticism. Though this is not dissimilar from the outrage over past special guests like Turkey or the League of Arab Nations. The organizers of the fair, however, hope that this courtesy...

Entertainment the Key to Finding a Common Agenda for Africa

Mwaura Samora October 8, 2009
Reality television shows are popular across Africa, attracting young viewers and making celebrities out of the shows’ stars. The shows promote unity and integration across Africa and allow a new focus on continent-wide issues such as HIV. Supporters say the shows bring Africans together in a way that politicians have been unable to match. Critics, though, say the contestants neither represent...

WTD 2009 – Experts Discuss Role of Tourism in Globalization

Victor Nze October 6, 2009
Many believe globalization undermines cultural diversity through its tendency to homogenize. But this year's World Tourism Day (WTD) celebration included a debate over strategies to partner globalization with diversity through tourism. After all, the panel concluded, diversity can be an economic asset, as different communities serve as resources of “social wealth” that attract increasingly...

Globalization Putting A Premium On Overseas Studies

Joseph Yeh October 5, 2009
Most modern nations emphasize education as an engine of progress, and Taiwan is no exception – in fact, it is famous for the rigor of its system. Recently, however, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has encouraged students to leave their native classrooms for foreign schools. The Taiwanese government is expanding scholarship programs that support not just term-time study abroad, but internships and...

Asian Universities Court Students Nearby

Liz Gooch September 24, 2009
In an effort to attract promising students, Asian universities are offering an education in English at a fraction of the cost of Western institutions. Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are all trying to attract international students with various points of interest: participation with Western universities, joint degree programs, and competitive prices. While many institutions are competing more...

The Gay Sons of Allah: Homophobia Sweeps the Muslim World

Juliane von Mittelstaedt, Daniel Steinvorth September 21, 2009
Across Muslim states of the Middle East, violence and persecution of gay men and women is on the rise. Such persecution, however, is an exception to the past, despite the reputation for repression many of these governments in the region enjoy. Indeed, interpretations of passages in the Koran as referring to homosexuality and laws against homosexual acts are largely the products of British 19th...

Chinese Jeans Bearing Name of God Anger Iranians

Robert Tait September 16, 2009
In a gaffe that may top the list for cultural insensitivity, jeans produced in China to be sold in Iran bore a hallowed phrase from the Koran on the seat pocket of their product. Perhaps the manufacturers thought the inclusion of such a phrase would appeal to the Muslim customers and increase brand recognition. What they missed was the relevance of the phrase for devout Muslims and the less than...