In The News

Cartoons and the Globalization of Protests

Paul Reynolds February 28, 2006
Violence bred by the infamous Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad has spread to sub-Saharan Africa. The ubiquity of such protests, and not simply their ferocity, has surprised many commentators. The cartoon controversy is not without precedent. In 1989, Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” incurred the wrath of Iranian ayatollahs who regarded it as a heretical vision of Islam. But the...

Nigeria Counts 100 Deaths over Danish Caricatures

Lydia Polgreen February 27, 2006
Violence over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that has resulted in more than 100 deaths in Nigeria offers an example of global issues impinging on the country’s domestic politics. The country’s Muslims and Christians have a history of tension, and the cartoons prompted tit-for-tat violence. Political analysts suggest that, in Nigeria, the cartoon controversy functioned as a pretext...

Immigration’s Role Often Overlooked in Global Economy

Leif Brottem February 21, 2006
The flow of immigrants from the global south to North America and Europe in search of work is often overshadowed by the flow of goods, capital and information. The financial support immigrants provide to developing countries once they settle elsewhere is 50 percent greater than the development aid to those same countries from all other sources. Increasingly, however, the US and the EU are...

The Decline and Fall Of Europe

Fareed Zakaria February 16, 2006
In March 2000, EU leaders pledged to make the EU “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010.” That goal could be unrealistic. As policymakers debate the rise of Asia and its challenge to the US, Fareed Zakaria, a journalist who specializes in international relations, suggests that the major story of the decade may well be Europe’s economic decline. If current trends...

So Long Dalai Lama: Google Adapts to China

Joseph Kahn February 15, 2006
Free-speech advocates continue to reproach the world’s technology and media giants for ready cooperation with the Chinese government’s moves to censor the internet. Yahoo offered up information about users’ email accounts that led to the convictions of so-called dissidents in 2003 and 2005. Microsoft pulled the plug on a major blog that drew the ire of Chinese censors. Cisco sold equipment...

China's Powerhouse Vision for 2050

Jonathan Watts February 13, 2006
China released a report from its leading research institute with an optimistic vision for the nation’s next 50 years. The projections depend on China undergoing a transition from a predominantly agricultural society to a suburban knowledge-based economy – and moving 500 million people closer to the cities. China would also have to maintain a strong growth rate, now at 9 percent. Noting that China...

Let's admit to a growing Islamist problem

Michael Young February 13, 2006
Governments often blame riots and violence – such as those that erupted throughout the Middle East after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed – on a few infiltrators from outside the country. Expressing helplessness, authorities suggest that small radical groups can quickly disrupt diverse communities who would otherwise live together in relative stability. In Lebanon,...