In The News

Birds Trying to Fly South Face Many Roadblocks

Michael Richardson August 15, 2003
One of the oldest examples of globalization does not involve airplanes, the internet, trade agreements, or even human beings, says veteran Asia watcher Michael Richardson. Every year, shorebirds of the Asia-Pacific traverse the eastern hemisphere in a 25,000 mile odyssey that lands them in regions as far flung as Australia and Siberia. They take flight when winter arrives in their northern...

Knock, Knock…Who's There? Many Migrants!

Joseph Chamie August 5, 2003
All people have the right to leave their country, writes Joseph Chamie, Director of the United Nations Population Division, but they do not have the right to enter another without permission. As population growth soars in the developing world, this apparent contradiction is creating a dilemma for developed countries, which are being inundated with illegal migrants. According to Chamie, the...

A Rich Nation, a Poor Continent

Jeffrey D. Sachs July 9, 2003
The cure for Africa’s ills is the one thing the continent lacks: money. According to Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Africa’s health care problems could be effectively combated with an annual infusion of $25 billion dollars from the developed world, including $8 billion from the US. By bolstering the continent’s nearly non-existent health care programs,...

Millions Celebrate Pride Around the World

June 30, 2003
This year, the annual gay pride celebrations taking place in major cities throughout the United States had an additional reason to celebrate: The US Supreme Court passed a landmark decision decriminalizing private, gay sex between consenting adults. Public officials present at the gay pride parades lauded the landmark decision. In New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle alone,...

America Goes Backward

Stanley Hoffman June 27, 2003
After the war in Iraq, the US Bush administration is once again criticized by many. In this feature article in the New York Review of Books, Harvard scholar Stanley Hoffmann argues that not only has the administration's unilateralism resulted in anti-Americanism overseas, but also domestic concerns of justice issues, among others. Furthermore, seeing itself as the world's peacekeeper,...

Immigrants Here in Record Numbers

Oscar Avila June 16, 2003
The face of the American Midwest is changing. In the past decade, large groups of immigrants have moved into the Chicago metropolitan area. People are coming from around the world, but the largest group has been Mexicans, many of whom are undocumented and poorly educated. Despite their illegal status, these immigrants have made contributions to the economy and reversed Chicago's population...

European Union’s Southern Drive

Shada Islam May 30, 2003
Despite apparent attempts by the US to lead the world in every way and area, when it comes to northern Africa and the Middle East, the European Union has its own ideas. Europe's importation of immigrant labor to support its aging population has contributed to a buildup of over 13 million Muslims of Middle Eastern descent across the continent. In the face of continued economic shifts and...