In The News

The End of a Gilded Age

Harold James January 6, 2009
Waves of globalization are characterized by intense innovation, along with increased wealth, productivity and consumption, notes Princeton professor Harold James in an opinion essay for the Baltimore Examiner. Agriculture gave way to manufacturing, manufacturing gave way to services, and services gave way to online interactions, and James notes that “In each case, a dramatic crisis created the...

An Alliance of Values

Tony Blair December 24, 2008
"To work effectively, globalization needs values like trust, confidence, openness and justice," explains former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in an opinion essay for the International Herald Tribune. It’s one of ten lessons Blair relayed as a visiting professor at Yale University, citing the need to "find a way to reconcile faith and globalization." If religion acts as a...

Obama’s Global Tryst

Nayan Chanda November 24, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama enters office as the globe confronts grave economic crisis. He must continue supporting free trade, but at the same time assist hundreds of thousands of Americans who struggle with job loss, falling home prices and foreclosures, and immense economic uncertainty about health care, energy and other resources. At the same time, Obama must manage two wars, one he promised...

Fierce Democratic Struggle Shapes Globalization

Salil Tripathi November 19, 2008
The world watches in amazement as India, with about one-sixth of the world's population and great diversity, chalks up impressive economic growth. Large-scale changes as India develops, though, are not wrought without friction. In recent decades an entrenched bias has favored city growth, argues journalist Salil Tripathi, while two-thirds of the country's billion-plus people remain...

A Need to Master the Tyranny of the Urgent

Strobe Talbott November 7, 2008
The number of issues awaiting President-elect Barack Obama and his administration lengthens as storm clouds of recession form worldwide. Obama and his team have stressed that quick fixes won't magically erase the many financial problems. Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of state under President Clinton, would agree with the Obama camp's cautionary tone, while also stressing that...

Financial Crisis Belies Myth of US Independence

Edward Goldberg October 30, 2008
Countries make the mistake of assuming that they can pick their way through globalization – that they can block products from other countries yet sell in those markets, or set rules for others to follow while intending to ignore those same rules at home. No community or country, as economic units, can escape financial decisions made thousands of miles away, argues Edward Goldberg, international...

The Glass Half Full

Nayan Chanda October 24, 2008
Neither candidate for US president, Barack Obama nor John McCain, wholly embraces globalization. McCain, a supporter of laissez-faire economics, emphasizes economic globalization, but not its “political and cultural components,” and his support base fiercely responds to the candidate’s message of “America first.” Meanwhile, Obama appeals to those who appreciate an international perspective and an...