In The News

The New Globalization Guru?

Eric Hobsbawm March 23, 2006
“The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, and establish connections everywhere…. Modern Industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist.” Philosopher Karl Marx made some uncanny predictions,...

Immigration Debate Heats Up

Darryl Fears March 22, 2006
About 12 million immigrants live and work illegally in the United States, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center. As the US Senate debates tough new laws restricting illegal immigration, a coalition of activists who support immigration – including unions like the AFL-CIO, religious groups like Catholic Bishops and business organizations like the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce –...

The Arab Connection to Chechen Conflict

Faryal Leghari March 21, 2006
An Arab influence continues to transform secessionist efforts in Chechnya into a drive for an Islamic state. Islam, long part of the region’s identity, however, was not the impetus for nationalistic movement to separate from Russia, underway since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Al Qaeda has funded Chechen rebels and also trained many in Afghanistan, and the Russian government has taken...

Spain Scrambles to Cope With Tide of African Migrants

Renwick Mclean March 21, 2006
As thousands of Africans gather in Mauritania, seeking eventual passage to the EU, Spain is taking an active role in preventing the migrant job-seekers from reaching its shores. Spain’s deputy prime minister paid an emergency visit to the Canary Islands to discuss controls on the record flow of African migrants reaching there from Africa’s Atlantic seaboard. Many of the Africans, who are...

Australia at the Crossroads of Globalization

Ben Arnoldy March 21, 2006
Foreign investment has allowed the Australian economy to flourish – slashing unemployment, doubling the country’s wealth and reducing national debt. Once an isolated and lonely market, Australia has leveraged trade to its advantage, with mining and other industries taking advantage of the fast-growing Chinese economy. Australia citizens remain content with globalization, largely because...

Mauritania Calls for Help on EU-Bound Migrant Flood

Ahmed Mohammed March 20, 2006
More than 1000 Africans have died in the first four months of 2006, trying to reach the EU and the economic opportunity it represents. Increasing numbers of desperate migrants flee Africa in crowded and small fishing canoes, called pirogues, from Mauritania to the Canary Islands and the coast of Spain. Police intercepted a record 400 Africans in a single day, crowded into nine boats. In 2005...

The Poor Get Richer

Geoffrey Colvin March 17, 2006
Educators and politicians have long argued that a college degree provided substantially more income than the high-school degree. Now that income gap is showing small signs of closing; between 2000 and 2004, the income of high school graduates rose 1.6 percent, and the income of college graduates dropped 5.2 percent. The reason is disturbing, with the changing demands of a global economy, reducing...