In The News

The Blurring Digital Divide

Patricia Yim April 28, 2005
Contrary to widespread commentary about a growing gap in IT capabilities between the developed and the developing world, many poorer nations are making great leaps in technology. The author, managing director for IBM Singapore, writes that IT skills are just as transferrable as any other intellectual asset, especially since recent years have seen the physical cost of digital technology decline...

'Wake Up and Face the Flat Earth'

April 18, 2005
Since Columbus discovered the New World in 1492 and reconnected peoples that had been separated for ten millennia, globalization has become increasingly fast-paced. The interconnected world, facilitated by information technology and trade liberalization in the late 20th century, is the most recent wave of human societies' efforts to connect each other even more closely. In his previous book...

Kyrgyz Ruler Is Toppled, but Can the Center Hold?

Paula R. Newberg March 28, 2005
The flight of the president of Kyrgyzstan, facing angry demonstrators, has suddenly thrust the small Central Asian republic into the international limelight. But as regional expert Paula R. Newberg notes, the overthrow of President Askar Akaev was a long time coming, and may have serious repercussions in the neighborhood. As Newberg warns, Kyrgyzstan's more conservative authoritarian...

Le Maître du Kirghizistan est renversé, mais la politique du juste milieu pourra-t-elle tenir ?

Paula R. Newberg March 28, 2005

Fraying of a Latin Textile Industry

Ginger Thompson March 28, 2005
The garment and textile industry has, for decades, been a source of employment and economic vitality for many South and Latin American nations. In El Salvador, the industry has been crucial to improving the standard of living for its people. But across the region, garment workers are being blindsided by changes in global trade. January 2005 saw an end to textile quotas worldwide, and companies...

Social Change in Qatar, One Degree at a Time

Otto Pohl March 24, 2005
Qatar is not known for being a liberal democratic country – indeed, there is little room for political dissent. Surprisingly though, this small Middle East country is pushing through one of the world's most revolutionary experiments in higher education. With increasing security restrictions limiting access for foreign students to attend top US universities, Qatar has decided to import...

Japan-South Korea Ties Take Turn for Worse

Kakumi Kobayashi March 23, 2005
Two recent diplomatic snafus by Japan have resulted in a flaring up of tensions with South Korea. The first is a prefectural government proclamation of a Japanese commemorative day on Takeshima, an uninhabited island in the Sea of Japan that both countries claim. The other is the proposed publication of a Japanese history book which paints Japan’s period of colonial rule over South Korea in...