In The News

Why is Russia Dragging its Feet on Kyoto?

Michael Grubb July 14, 2003
Russia is yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty designed to reduce the threat of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 110 countries, also includes provisions for market-oriented mechanisms for “trading emission allowances and emission credits granted for clean energy investment.” Michael Grubb and Yuri Safonov, scholars of climate...

A Muslim Missionary Group Draws New Scrutiny in US

Susan Sachs July 14, 2003
Tablighi Jamaat, a conservative Muslim congregation of traveling proselytizers, is facing increasing scrutiny of its members and activities by the FBI in the United States. Founded 75 years ago in colonial India, the Tablighi Jamaat is a nonpolitical congregation of Muslim preachers, who – much like Christian missionaries – travel throughout the world to proselytize. The Tablighi Jamaat has a...

Employers Take United Stand in Insisting on Labor Concessions

Steven Greenhouse July 11, 2003
The situation of American workers in several large corporations is a striking illustration of the negative effects of globalization and a more integrated world economy. In large part because of low-cost foreign labor, American corporations are gaining the upper hand in negotiations with worker unions. Even in industries that are thriving, management claims that the pressure to compete requires...

Poorest of the Poor May be Halved in a Decade, UN Predicts

Terri Judd July 9, 2003
According to the recently released United Nations Development Program Report, reducing worldwide poverty can only be achieved by a global effort that addresses the un-abating HIV/AIDS epidemic, persistent civil war, accelerating rates of environmental degradation, limited integration in the global capitalist economy and deficiencies in human and social sector development. The report identifies...

Closing Doors to Growth

July 8, 2003
Having the most closed markets in the world is nothing to be proud of, this editorial in an influential Indian business daily maintains. According to a recent World Trade Organization report, less globalized countries saw per capita income growth just 0.9 percent per annum, while those that were highly globalized saw annual incomes grow by 4.3 percent. Therefore, the editorial argues, if India...

Non-Globalized States Pose a Threat

Banning N. Garrett July 7, 2003
Liberia's raging civil war is bringing the issue of failing states in Africa dramatically to the fore as US President Bush begins his first ever trip to the continent. Amidst domestic bloodbath, the threat posed to the interconnected world by failing states like Liberia or other rogue or weak states may not be immediately apparent. However, as this article points out, the weakness of such...

Force Down Rogue State Jets, say US, Australia

Marian Wilkinson July 5, 2003
At an upcoming of 11 nations officials in Brisbane will consider practical ways of intercepting weapons of mass destruction before they change hands. The US and Australian will specifically discuss a proposal to track and force down aircrafts believed to be carrying prohibited weapons from North Korea, Iran, Syria and Libya. The operation is designed to disrupt the international flow of weapons...