In The News

Confluence of Horrors, Global Impact Makes Japan's Tragedy a Transcendent Event in History

Joji Sakurai March 21, 2011
As humans learn from the experience of others and make accommodations, the tsunami and nuclear accident could transform many future endeavors, explains Joji Sakurai in an essay for the Canadian Press. Japan, an advanced economy, has been the second most generous foreign aid donor in the world and now welcomes financial and technological assistance from around the globe. The internet and...

America Should Not Prosecute Julian Assange

Joseph Nye March 9, 2011
US efforts to prosecute the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, for espionage and exposing confidential US State Department cables are not in line with democratic values or support for a free and open internet, argues Joseph Nye, author and a former US assistant secretary of defense. Around the globe, news organizations, both big and small, review and disseminate the leaked cables. US...

Don’t Look for Jasmine Revolution or Tea in China

Frank Ching March 7, 2011
From the start, the plan sounded like public performance art or a prank to emulate the Jasmine Revolution sweeping the Middle East: Anonymous online messages called for rallies at 2 pm Sunday in China’s busiest shopping districts: No angry signs or shouts needed, protesters could participate by “strolling, watching or pretending to pass by.” Organizers thus hoped to turn every shopper into a...

Significance of Wisconsin Union Battle

Ellen Ratner March 3, 2011
Nonviolent protests in Egypt toppled a harsh regime, attracting interest and inspiring activism around the globe. Legislation proposing spending cuts and eliminating most collective-bargaining rights for workers in the US state of Wisconsin – even though the workers accepted wage and other cuts – ignited protests in mid-February. Protesters gathered at the capitol building in Madison, refusing to...

Anonymous and the Global Correction

February 28, 2011
New communication technologies arm young activists with the tools to disrupt powerful, traditional institutions that simultaneously depend on the internet and apply excessive controls. Since 2005, a loose band of activists known as Anonymous have opposed censorship or a restricted internet, their plans and goals emerging amid fast, furious chatter of message boards. What began as sport in Japan...

Revolution U

Tina Rosenberg February 24, 2011
Following Egypt’s uprising, attention focused on links between protest organizers in Cairo and the Center for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies, or CANVAS, in Serbia. The group was formed by leaders of the movement that overthrew Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Online exchange of information and strategy from Serbia helped the Egyptian movement. Yet CANVAS has worked in more than 50 countries...

Bigger Abroad

February 23, 2011
A growing share of Hollywood’s profits come from overseas markets. Audiences in emerging economies of China, Russia and Brazil determine which films are global blockbusters, reports an article in the Economist. A falling dollar and increased construction of cinemas overseas contribute a growing global audience. Overall, action films starring foreign actors do better than comedies focused on...