In The News

Coral Reefs off the Florida Keys Get Protection from Large Ships

November 14, 2002
The advent of globalization has increased international trade and the volume of shipping which supports that trade. More than 40 percent of the world’s commerce passes through the Florida Straights, damaging its fragile coral reef ecosystem. This area has already been weakened through pollution, over fishing, and coastal development. To combat these negative effects, the Bush administration has...

North Sea Cod Crisis Brings Call for Nations to Act

Craig S. Smith November 7, 2002
For the fisheries in ports and towns that depend on the North Sea cod, even more restrictions—or even a ban altogether—will soon follow the release of a scientific report outlining the perilous number of North Sea cod. The seemingly interminable discussions of the European Union’s fishing ministries on the matter have only let the cod stock dwindle. Other leaders, like the European Commissioner...

Debate on Intellectual Property

Steve Lohr October 14, 2002
Based on the economic history of the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and other nations, the borrowing of ideas – and the making of improvements upon them – is essential to building strong domestic industries. Each of these countries owes a great deal of its economic success today to earlier eras in which foreign patents, copyrights, and trademarks received little or no protection. Now,...

Kazakhstan: President Orders Study on Effects of Decriminalizing 'Soft' Drugs

Zamira Eshanova October 12, 2002
No longer simply transit areas for drugs from Afghanistan, Central Asian countries are now seeing increasing rates of drug use and addiction. In a radical move to deal with the problem, the president of Kazakhstan is considering whether the Dutch experience of legalizing 'soft' drugs like marijuana could help curb his country’s demand for harder, more devastating drugs like heroin....

World Court Rules for Cameroon in Prolonged Oil-Land Border Dispute With Nigeria

Marc Lacey October 11, 2002
The World Court has declared Cameroon the rightful owner of the Bakassi peninsula, ending the country's long-standing dispute with Nigeria. Located in the Gulf of Guinea, the Bakassi area is rich in oil and has provided important naval access for Nigeria. Concern that the Nigerian military might balk at the decision worried some observers, but many are encouraged that the presidents of...

World Court Rules for Cameroon in Prolonged Oil-Land Border Dispute With Nigeria

Marc Lacey with Neela Banerjee October 11, 2002
The World Court has declared Cameroon the rightful owner of the Bakassi peninsula, ending the country's long-standing dispute with Nigeria. Located in the Gulf of Guinea, the Bakassi area is rich in oil and has provided important naval access for Nigeria. Concern that the Nigerian military might balk at the decision worried some observers, but many are encouraged that the presidents of...

Music Industry in Global Fight on Web Copies

Amy Harmon October 7, 2002
For a while, Napster was the darling of music-swapping college students and the bane of American entertainment industry officials. Litigation in US courts effectively bankrupted the company a year ago, but now a new multi-national file exchange service may be taking Napster's place - in popularity, and in US courtrooms. Already counting millions of users around the globe, KaZaA:geography...