In The News

Inequality Breeds Resistance to Globalization

Pranab Bardhan November 27, 2012
Many critics point to globalization, its swirling influences over worldwide connections through trade, technology and communications, as a culprit behind growing inequality. Yet Pranab Bardhan, economist with the University of California, Berkeley, points out that the connections deliver both opportunities and challenges. Multiple forces contribute to entrenched economic inequality in so many...

Assange Asylum Raises South America’s Ire

Alistair Burnett October 12, 2012
By fleeing to the Ecuadoran embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, an Australian, escaped extradition to Sweden for charges of sexual assault and potentially being deported to the United States for spying. Intentionally or not, he also unleashed South American resentment over two centuries of domination, first by Europe and more recently by the US. Ecuador’s embassy in London, which...

A Turning Point for China

Jean-Pierre Lehmann October 1, 2012
China’s progress since the first half of the 20th century is stunning and indeed inspiring. The nation that once rejected globalization, set out to rapidly transform its global reputation, from being pitied for horrific poverty to envied for stable economic growth. The world economy has come to depend on China, notes Jean-Pierre Lehmann, international political economist, in a quick review of the...

Behind the Iron Curtain

David Hawk September 28, 2012
Isolation from the rest of the world, a shroud of obsessive secrecy, allows North Korean leaders to brutalize their own citizens. A ruined economy leads to desperation, with thousands of escapes reported in recent years. The horrific stories from victims take years to emerge, only after prisoners escape and survive – spending months hiding and traveling through China and Southeast Asia until they...

US Law’s Positive Impact on Africa

Humphrey Hawksley July 10, 2012
With the sentencing of a Congolese warlord at the International Criminal Court, whose charges included employing child soldiers, the wheels of justice turn in Africa. Another unexpected source, too, is helping Africa. The Dodd-Frank Act was designed to reform the US financial system after the 2008 credit crisis, explains Humphrey Hawksley, BBC News correspondent, and Section 1502 addresses so-...

Illegal Immigrants in Greece

Andreas Ulrich June 5, 2012
Greece is a favorite point of entry for immigrants seeking to begin new lives in Europe. About 100,000 arrive per year from Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Africa – far more than attempt to cross borders in central European states like Germany. The immigrants are unpopular in the troubled economy, and Greece is stepping up security and border patrols. With so many willing to...

Internet Stirs Activism in Vietnam

Huong Nguyen May 11, 2012
The quick connections and passion forged over the internet challenge authoritarian governments worldwide. Vietnam is no exception. Social media and blogs connect social activists as well as the diaspora, reports Huong Nguyen, research fellow at the Center for Constitutional Democracy at the Indiana University in Bloomington. Notably, many activists take recourse to igniting nationalistic feelings...