In The News

How Kenya Is Caught on the Thorns of Britain's Love Affair with the Rose

Jeevan Vasagar February 14, 2006
Kenya controls a quarter of the British rose market, and the flower, now the country’s second-largest export, is fueling much of the nation’s economic growth. Once blasted over low pay and poor working conditions, Kenya’s foreign-owned rose growers have cleaned up their act and reinvest some of their profits in Kenyan communities under the principles of fair trade. The flower industry’s...

Boom Town

Adam Nicolson February 13, 2006
The future of the modern world is being raised, literally, from the sandy depths of the waters surrounding the city of Dubai. A developer’s paradise, this fastest-growing city in the world is open to all with a checkbook and an imagination. Dubai, centered between the rising powers of the East and the traditional powers of the West, is man-made, from its sky-high towers and luxury ski resorts in...

China's Powerhouse Vision for 2050

Jonathan Watts February 13, 2006
China released a report from its leading research institute with an optimistic vision for the nation’s next 50 years. The projections depend on China undergoing a transition from a predominantly agricultural society to a suburban knowledge-based economy – and moving 500 million people closer to the cities. China would also have to maintain a strong growth rate, now at 9 percent. Noting that China...

Let's admit to a growing Islamist problem

Michael Young February 13, 2006
Governments often blame riots and violence – such as those that erupted throughout the Middle East after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed – on a few infiltrators from outside the country. Expressing helplessness, authorities suggest that small radical groups can quickly disrupt diverse communities who would otherwise live together in relative stability. In Lebanon,...

NAFTA and Nativism

Harold Meyerson February 10, 2006
Shortly before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect in 1994, then US President Bill Clinton optimistically predicted, as more Mexicans gained the ability to support themselves at home, a gradual decline in illegal immigration. Contrary to Clinton’s promise, however, the US has seen a four-fold increase in undocumented Mexican workers in the last decade. Putting...

Some Assembly Needed: China as Asia Factory

David Barboza February 10, 2006
Although a wealth of products pour into the US, bearing the label “made in China,” few are made completely in that nation at all. These days China is just the last stop in the complex global production networks run by multinational companies in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US. By confusing between what really is assembled in China with the common label of “made in China,” one...

China, the WTO and Globalization

Dorothy Guerrero February 6, 2006
Most commentators, stunned at China’s growth, are interested in projecting how soon the country will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy. But for the Chinese people, the more pertinent forecast is when the benefits of WTO accession and foreign investment will make their way to them. China has succeeded in making itself a top destination for foreign direct investment by offering tax...