In The News

The Other Malaysia: ASEAN and Globalization

Farish A Noor January 18, 2007
An integrated world economy is seen by many as beneficial for the developing world, but recent events in Southeast Asia cause some to question this optimism. After an announcement to impose controls on foreign capital in Thailand led to a 14 percent drop in Bangkok’s stock market, the newly-installed government was forced to retract its statement in a desperate effort to avoid a repeat of the...

Opening Up the Transatlantic Market

Daniel S. Hamilton January 15, 2007
Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany and president of the G-8, urges a transatlantic free-trade agreement. Except for a few high-profile squabbles, trade barriers between the two continents are already low and the US Senate has already given its approval of such an agreement, note transatlantic analysts Daniel Hamilton and Joseph Quinlan. The authors point out that a US state like Illinois has...

Is Southeast Asia Becoming China’s Playpen?

Sheng Lijun January 11, 2007
China never had to exert massive military might or economic investment to gain influence in Southeast Asia. After the US resumed relations with the mainland, members of the Association of South-East Asia Nations (ASEAN) followed suit. During the Cold War, the US aimed to dilute Soviet influence in the region and encouraged collaboration. With the US increasingly distracted in the Middle East,...

Globalization Story Still Has a Long Way to Go

Daniel Altman January 10, 2007
Analysts may argue that globalization has passed its peak, while encouraging terror, crime and disease. But such analysis ignores the data, argues Daniel Altman who writes a globalization column for “The International Herald Tribune.” Exports of merchandise and trade in commercial services increased by 60 percent, value of global mergers and acquisitions increased by almost 40 percent, and...

Too Much Globalization, Or Not Enough?

Andrew Leonard January 5, 2007
Immigrants contributed to more than 25 percent of new engineering and technology start-up firms in the US between 1995 and 2005, according to a study from Duke University’s Master of Engineering Management Program and the School of Information, University of California, Berkeley. Companies started by immigrants produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 in 2005. Notably, firms with...

Mongolia Is Roiled by Miner's Huge Plans

Patrick Barta January 4, 2007
As demand for commodities increase worldwide, Mongolians are in no hurry to approve plans for a massive mine, which according to some analysts could double the nation's gross domestic product. Looking at history, citizens of developing nations have good reason to suspect that such projects only produce troubles, with the bulk of sudden wealth going to foreign investors, all the while...

Lawsuit Called Opening Salvo in Chinese Media War

Howard French January 3, 2007
A major Chinese newspaper is seeking damages from Tom.com, which republishes articles and photographs without authorization – and that could open a new frontier for intellectual-property rights protection in a country that has long been known for its free-for-all ways. Industry leaders in film, music and design have long complained about Chinese copycat firms that immediately steal and duplicate...