In The News

China Joins the Global Economy - Part One

David Zweig September 15, 2003
Just over two decades ago, China was a vast, poor country whose centrally-planned economy offered its citizenry little hope for an improved standard of living. After a series of market-oriented reforms, however, many Chinese now regularly enjoy luxuries that were once reserved for the elite. In part one of a 2-part series on China's entry into the world economy, China expert David Zweig...

Iran, Sept. 11 and the Repercussions of ‘Regime Change'

Abumohammad Asgarkhani September 15, 2003
Iran stands increasingly big potential new target for America's fight against terrorism. As the US's new foreign policy—outlined after September 11th by the Bush administration—continues to take shape, Iran finds itself under (verbal) attack from the US and UK as a nation with a radical government, nuclear dreams, and a strong regional presence. Whether or not fears of Iranian power...

Rich-Poor Rift Triggers Collapse of Trade Talks

Kevin Sullivan September 15, 2003
Representatives from developing countries walked out of WTO trade talks this weekend in Cancun, claiming that the United States and European Union (EU) countries were unwilling to negotiate the reduction of agricultural subsidies. Many states from Latin America and Africa consider the $3 billion of subsidies provided by wealthier countries to their farmers to be a de facto "dumping"...

Protesters Swarm the Streets at W.T.O. Forum in Cancún

Ginger Thompson September 14, 2003
Developing nations lost the trade battle this weekend in the WTO talks, as richer countries pushed through a proposal that kept most of the 3 billion dollars worth of agricultural subsidies intact. Defending the subsidies, which nations in Africa and Latin America consider akin to "dumping practices" and which the US and EU states call necessary, wealthier nations called on groups such...

Only a Miracle Can Save China

Moisés Naím September 14, 2003
China may be growing too strong too fast for its own good. Rapid urbanization, an upwardly mobile middle class, and strained utilities and resources make an economic or political "accident" within the next decade inevitable, argues Moisés Naím. No state thus far has managed to expand so quickly in so many different directions without experiencing some sort of collapse—and China's...

Lonely at the Top

Clyde Prestowitz September 13, 2003
Although the US experienced an outpouring of sympathy from much of the world after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, over the past two years it has encountered much resistance to its leadership on issues from Iraq to free trade. The US has lost any goodwill it received after the attacks, says former Reagan administration official and author Clyde Prestowitz, because Washington has pursued a...

African Nations Press for an End to Cotton Subsidies in the West

Elizabeth Becker September 12, 2003
Agricultural subsidies continue to be the keyword for the current round of WTO talks in Cancun. Cotton has become the symbol of the debate, with four African nations who depend on the crop for 10% of their gross domestic products claim the combined 4 billion dollars worth of subsidies provided by the EU and the US to their cotton farmers keep prices below cost. Unsubsidized farmers can not...