In The News

Confluence of Horrors, Global Impact Makes Japan's Tragedy a Transcendent Event in History

Joji Sakurai March 21, 2011
As humans learn from the experience of others and make accommodations, the tsunami and nuclear accident could transform many future endeavors, explains Joji Sakurai in an essay for the Canadian Press. Japan, an advanced economy, has been the second most generous foreign aid donor in the world and now welcomes financial and technological assistance from around the globe. The internet and...

How a One Drink Changed Fortunes, Incited Protests

Farok J. Contractor March 9, 2011
Tea, native to Asia, reached Europe in 1606, after Dutch traders sent a bulk tea shipment; within a century, the caffeinated drink became a popular beverage. Globalization’s pace was slower then, but the resulting prosperity and pain were still immense, explains Farok J. Contractor, professor of management and global business. He traces the course of tea’s globalization over the centuries: High...

Globalization Fuels the Arab Uprising

Frida Ghitis February 10, 2011
Global trade and competition, recognition of declining resources, rising wage inequality and prices, along with instant communications – many forces of globalization are behind uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Widespread, well-publicized discontent has made oppression more difficult to enforce, explains Frida Ghitis for World Politics Review. “For people living in the stagnant economies of the...

There’s No Stopping It

Nayan Chanda February 7, 2011
Internet and cell phones are essential tools for global business. Any attempt to cut the flow of communications invites anger, protest, confusion and embarrassing scrutiny, as it was discovered by the Mubarak government on 28 January. Egypt, hoping to hobble protesters and block international observers, ordered its internet providers to change gateway addresses and stop traffic. “The ploy failed...

More in US Grow Wary of Globalization

Jon Cohen, Peyton M. Craighill February 4, 2011
The US was a leading proponent of globalization throughout the 20th century, and most Americans approved of the phenomenon in 2001. Just a decade later, about two-thirds of Americans polled report disapproval of globalization’s acceleration, particularly if it threatens US status as the globe’s leading economy. At the same time, Americans are aware that “durability of an interconnected world...

Challenging Globalization

Nayan Chanda January 24, 2011
Americans are angry about economic decline. Though the country unleashed many of the forces that spur modern globalization, its politicians resist adapting to a globalized world. US companies find new opportunities, lower wages and an expanding middle-class customer base in overseas markets. Sharp political divide in the US adds to uncertainty and a floundering economy. Both major parties want to...

Cholera, Fear Spread Beyond the Border

Fred Tasker, Frances Robles November 19, 2010
Soon after the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, world public health officials predicted that poor sanitation and disrupted services could lead to an outbreak of disease. Cholera now spread rapidly throughout the country, killing more than 1000 Haitians and crossing borders into the Dominican Republic and the United States. Thousands more are sickened and violent riots have broken out in...