In The News

Is Brand America in Trouble?

Paul Maidment September 26, 2005
While US brands like Marlboro and Disney remain popular all over the world, the popularity of America itself is diminishing, stoked by grievances that far surpass the war in Iraq. Echoing pop star Bono's impression of "a brick through the storefront of Brand America," reporter Paul Maidment argues that there is a new, more active tone of counter-Americanism, and that it is "...

The Railway Across the Roof of the World

Jonathan Watts September 21, 2005
They said it couldn't be done. The miles-high terrain of the Kunlun Range seemed no place for a railroad, yet the Chinese government forged ahead with plans for a route to the furthest reaches of Tibet. The 48-hour journey from Golmud to Lhasa, along the soon-to-be completed rail line, represents an opportunity for growth as well as a potentially dangerous expansion of China's...

Dangerously Unique

Moisés Naím September 20, 2005
In this Foreign Policy article, Moisés Naím highlights the discrepancy between the expectations of "normalcy" held by a small number of privileged citizens and the realities of the rest of the world. Despite what many in Western nations may believe, their concept of "normal" is not, in fact, universal. In fact, gross income discrepancies, health care inadequacies, and...

Murdoch Says News Corp. Has Hit a "Brick Wall" in China

Ron Rhodes September 20, 2005
Media tycoons have long salivated over China's huge market potential. But a government investigation into Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. underscores the challenges of operating a media business in China. "A year ago I would have said there's a lot of opening up going on," Murdoch said. "The present trend is the reverse," he continued, referring to the government...

Muslim Malaysian Sailors Denied Jobs over Terror Fears

September 19, 2005
Though the years after the 9/11 attacks have already witnessed incidents of racial profiling against Muslims in the West, fears of terrorism are now making targets out of Muslims elsewhere in the world. The Malaysian Seafarers Association claimed recently that international shipping companies are not recruiting Muslim sailors and officers from Malaysia. Muslim Malays do not have last names, but...

Civil society transcends right-left gap

Severyn T. Bruyn September 16, 2005
Sociologists ponder how the current US social and political climate will influence the future – and some experts predict a backlash to the polarization, suggesting that responsible global governance will restrain excessive national power and capitalist markets. The catalyst for such an outcome, the force of civil society, can reinforce common values in an age of partisanship. Civil society has...

In Germany, Harder Line Looms

Ian Johnson September 16, 2005
Following the London bombings and communal violence in the Netherlands, Europe's relations with its Muslim citizens have grown increasingly strained. Governments are now turning a sterner eye towards Islamic organizations within their borders, hoping to nip domestic Islamic radicalism in the bud. In Germany, attorneys have launched an investigation into the dealings of the Islamic Community...