In The News

Derek Shearer June 23, 2008
With the George W. Bush presidency coming to a close, global observers anticipate greater international engagement from the US. Students in countries like Syria, Peru and Bolivia are particularly amazed that the US voters might possibly select minority Barack Obama, whose father was an immigrant and whose name is not traditionally European, explains Derek Shearer, a former ambassador to Finland...
Dominic Rushe June 20, 2008
India’s film industry has a formula for success – flamboyant dancing, sexually charged scenes, and tension between traditional parents and rebellious offspring. Bollywood has long incorporated Western ideology in its films, yet only recently added English dialogue. Critics suggest the next step for Bollywood is to move beyond whimsical confections – and produce meaningful stories that resonate...
June 13, 2008
Countries that import food must check on producers’ sanitary standards, warn scientists attending an American Society for Microbiology meeting, reported on by Science Centric. Lower wages in developing nations and specialized growing environments contribute to the trends in food trade. The US imports more food than it exports, the article reports, and about 15 percent of food consumed in the US...
Tyler Cowen June 12, 2008
Living standards have improved immensely throughout the world since 1990, largely due to open trade and globalization. But ordinary observers and intellectuals increasingly express concern about the speed of globalization and suggest that applying some controls could ease climbing commodity prices and inflation. Slowing the global economy would be a challenge, argues economist Tyler Cowen for...
Peter Mandelson June 11, 2008
The US has been a major driver behind globalization of trade, and either Barack Obama or John McCain will preside over the next phase. Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner lays out the challenges for the next US president and offers advice: The global economy is no longer based on a powerful center, inequality within a society matters as much as inequality between countries, and trade...
Edward Wong June 4, 2008
In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, amongst the rubble, aid and rescue operations, a Facebook profile of the Chinese leader Wen Jiabao has surfaced. Regardless of the actual identity of the profile creator, its existence suggests unprecedented level approachability. Increasing numbers of politicians, including US presidential candidates, recognize the value of online social networking...
Henry A. Kissinger June 3, 2008
An emerging global economy and accompanying systems have prompted some countries to cling to power and display nationalistic tendencies. “The basic premise of globalization is that competition will sort out the most efficient, a process that, by definition, involves winners and losers,” writes Henry Kissinger in an opinion essay for the International Herald Tribune. Even occasional losers are...