In The News

Do Multinationals Really Understand Globalization?

Navi Radjou, Prasad Kaipa August 13, 2010
Generations disagree about globalization's continuing influence over business routines. IBM conducted two polls among CEOs and students. In the CEO survey, most anticipated new centers of growth and influence to continue expanding beyond Europe and the US. But only 2 percent of the CEOs were from the emerging economies where so much new growth and change are anticipated. Students and...

Egyptian Group Wants to Censor Arabic Classic

Amro Hassan , Jeffrey Fleishman July 14, 2010
The collection of folktales known in English as “The Arabian Nights” are a classic work of globalization. For centuries, starting with the 9th, multiple storytellers traveled, spinning and elaborating the tales with themes and settings spanning ancient Mesopotamia, India, medieval Persia and Egypt. Arabic translators preserved the tales into book format, which later influenced modern writers of...

Reverse Outsourcing

Nayan Chanda July 6, 2010
An old saying – what goes around comes around – applies to anything global, and that includes outsourcing. France and other developed nations with high labor costs have long and bitterly complained about jobs shifting to low-wage nations like China. But Europe’s rising unemployment, combined with rising wages in China, contribute to an agreement that brings up to 50 Chinese electronics and light-...

Global Brands Contend With Appreciation for the Local

Bryant Simon July 6, 2010
Fear of global brands is a powerful, universally recognized phenomenon. Just as powerful and less noticed is the consumer pushback against global brands and search for unique, local products, notes Bryant Simon, author and American Studies professor. “The spread of these branded symbols of globalization raises the value of the local,” he maintains, explaining how Starbucks deliberately set out...

World Cup: The Symbol of a New Postcolonial World Order

Lyal White June 24, 2010
World order is not static in politics, economics, culture or sport. Lyal White, writing for the Mail & Guardian, analyzes the World Cup match between Portugal and Brazil, pointing out the shift in power between former colonial power and emerging power: “While Brazil is on the rise, Portugal is the latest European basket case teetering on the brink of default…. Today a reversal of colonial...

The World at Play: Soccer Takes on Globalization

Branko Milanovic June 15, 2010
Soccer is the most globalized sport. Owners of any sporting team demand and pay for top talent from anywhere in the world. Before 1995, soccer rules in Europe limited the number of foreign players to a handful per club. A Belgian player successfully protested that the rules violated European laws on labor mobility and discrimination. Since then, the doors have opened wide and skills in the game...

Unity Through Soccer? Not in the Middle East

James Montague June 15, 2010
While soccer has contributed to nationalism in the face of sectarian violence for some Middle Eastern countries, it also reemphasizes some deep divisions that resound across the region. The violent fallout stemming from the Egypt-Algeria World Cup qualifying match indicates how notions of Middle East unity remain idealistic. Rivalry becomes an excuse for crime, riots and ethnic violence. Soccer...