In The News

Passing both the Senate and the House by slim margins, the approval of CAFTA – a free-trade agreement linking the US with the five Central American states and the Dominican Republic – was a narrow victory for the Bush administration. CAFTA will only have a marginal effect on the US economy – so why such a close vote? As Edward Gresser writes, the new initiative addresses protected goods such as...

Darwin's Nightmare, Hubert Sauper's new documentary released in the United States this week, chronicles an evolutionary and globalization-related predicament. Decades ago, the Nile perch was introduced to the waters of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, with the aim of replenishing over-fished waters. In the years since, the six-foot fish have proved a lucrative export for Tanzania, but a...

Central Asia has historically been a stage for strategic power games involving Russia and Europe. Russia and China, who have inherited the mantle of earlier imperial powers, conceded the US a foothold in the wake of the September 11 attacks when the US needed Central Asian bases for its operation in Afghanistan. But nearly four years later, with the Afghan government still in turmoil and no end...