In The News

Check Out That Colombian Tata!

Daniel Gross April 13, 2010
On a trip to Colombia, the author was surprised to find an example of the new nature of international corporations. Tata Consultancy is a branch of the Indian car company that recently bought several British and American brand-name car labels. Tata’s Colombian branch is providing services to a number of Latin American governments and corporations. An Argentinian manager oversees employees from a...

The Caribbean Brain Drain: Nursing a Grievance

April 12, 2010
According to the World Bank, only one-quarter of nurses in the English-speaking Caribbean remain working in their countries. The rest leaves to work abroad, where working and living conditions are significantly better. The economic incentives of working abroad outweigh the challenges of staying. This is not a new phenomenon: it has been taking place for almost two centuries and is not confined to...

Kyrgyzstan Turmoil Puts US Base and Afghan War in Balance

Dilip Hiro April 12, 2010
Landlocked, lacking resources that typically attract notice of distant powers, the Kyrgyz Republic holds a strategic position. Not far from war-torn Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda hatched plans for the 9/11 attacks, Kyrgyzstan remains a nation of interest. Russia gave the go-ahead to former Soviet republics to assist in the US-led effort against Islamic extremism, explains author Dilip Hiro, but...

Brazil: Poster Boy of Globalization Charts Own Course

Kevin Casas-Zamora April 9, 2010
Leaving behind its history as an underdeveloped state dependent on US foreign aid and security umbrella, South America’s largest nation has ridden the wave of globalization to become a formidable economic and diplomatic power. In just two decades, Brazil cultivated a middle class by opening its economy and curbing inflation while installing social programs that radically reduced poverty. Timely...

Crumbs from the BRICs-Man’s Table

April 7, 2010
As global recession enfeebles the rich world, big middle-income countries, led by the BRICs, (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have dramatically increased their economic interest in poorer countries, and by consequence, their influence. This has taken direct – aid, investment, and trade – and indirect means, and continues to increase rapidly: the growing drought of rich-world assistance to Africa...

Marketing to Brazil's Emerging Middle Class

Seth Kugel March 31, 2010
The purchasing power of lower- and middle-class Brazilians is expanding rapidly, creating new opportunities and markets for global companies. Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, for instance, has repackaged a denture adhesive and is trying to sell it in slum communities in Rio de Janeiro. But the transition to the new market is not easy. For one thing, no one in these communities knows what a...

Information For Change

Nayan Chanda March 30, 2010
The speed of the Internet continues to increase dramatically, shrinking the world and creating new opportunities by delivering vast amounts of content to mobile devices. But the increasing speeds could create expectations and social pressures that governments are not prepared to meet. Countries need to have educated populations and good technological infrastructure to take advantage of the...