In The News

Planned Chinatown Raises Hackles in Rural Germany

Markus Feldenkirchen March 25, 2008
The city council of rural Oranienburg has approved construction of a Chinatown for its community, but agreement has stopped there. While Germans demand meticulous and time-consuming documentation and construction that conforms to city codes, the Chinese would prefer informal and rapid “guan xi” decision-making. The definition of “home” can increasingly blur as local flavors change with the influx...

World Banker and His Cash Return Home

Jason DeParle March 24, 2008
Remittances, once treated as an insignificant rounding error, eclipse the world’s combined foreign aid by threefold. A migration scholar with the World Bank, Dilip Ratha, calculated the magnitude of remittances and brought them to the world’s attention. Critics suggest that “behind every remittance is a separated family” and argue that remittances contribute to consumption rather than development...

Guess Who's Getting the Most Work Visas

Moira Herbst March 17, 2008
Since 1990, the US has issued a set number of H-1B visas by lottery to attract talented science, technology and math professionals from around the world to its universities, research centers and companies. Increasing numbers of applications, however, combined with strict caps and a lottery system prevent many foreign professionals from entering the US workforce. A federal report points out that...

Dying to Live

Gihan Shahine March 7, 2008
Many young throughout Africa set out on dangerous journeys north, searching for jobs in Europe. Some send back what seem like vast sums to their villages while others eventually return, building homes and sending their children to school. But some men never return or make contact, and their families are left to wonder whether the jobseekers died in the rough seas or wait in European holding camps...

12 Million Shadows: America’s Immigration Dilemma

Joseph Chamie February 4, 2008
It may appear odd for a country created by migrants, but illegal immigration has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in US politics, especially in the presidential election campaign. In polls, a majority of Americans support immigration yet oppose shortcuts for immigrants who enter the country by illegal means. A major challenge is what to do about an estimated 12 million illegal aliens...

Careful What You Wish For

January 22, 2008
Many challenges await the next US president, and all demand immediate fixes, report a team of reporters for Newsweek. Candidates make promises about 12 million illegal immigrants, with 500,000 more entering every year; a strained health care system that is unaffordable for the millions of uninsured; an overextended military in Iraq and Afghanistan; record oil prices; a battered economy; global...

Southeast Asian Democratization in the Era of Globalization

Roy Voragen January 16, 2008
Anticipating the consequences of globalization is one way of adapting to the rapid change. Increasingly, individuals acquire wealth not so much through hard work or innovation than by predicting globalization’s intricate twisting paths. Cities and citizens in the developed nations, while they complain about globalization, are better prepared for adapting to the effects than citizens in developing...