In The News

Kremlin Puts Foreign NGO’s on Notice

C.J. Chivers October 24, 2006
The Russian government stopped operations of foreign non-profit organizations operating in Russia, such as Amnesty International, while reviewing bureaucratic registrations required under a new law. For now, the bureaucratic process, combined with closures and described as temporary, has quieted normally vocal non-government organization spokespeople. The closures, according to the “New York...

Way Radical, Dude

Jose Antonio Vargas October 20, 2006
Radical Islamic organizations have developed video games that aim to kill US President Bush or rescue Iranian nuclear scientists from US Special Forces. For some Middle Easterners, the new games are a response to US Defense Department games that depict Muslims as military targets. But the Army Game Project denies that it focuses on any particular people or region. The free video games produced in...

The Globalization Index

Paul Laudicina October 19, 2006
The impacts of globalization and roads to integration are almost as varied as the number of countries in the world. “Foreign Policy” and the A.T. Kearney consulting firm have released the sixth annual ranking of 62 countries based on their degree of globalization. The analysis focuses on categories of economic integration, personal contact, technological connectivity and political engagement....

Social Networking Sites Keep Their Local Flavor as They Go Global

James Shih October 18, 2006
Internet social-networking sites pop up regionally, but quickly gather members around the globe. Sites like MySpace and Facebook started the online friendship-tracking trend in the US, and similar sites have emerged in South Korea, Australia, Germany and elsewhere. Regional online sites can quickly acquire global stature, analysts suggest. "The majority of large Internet companies in the US...

A Clash of Civilizations in Europe?

Patrick Sabatier October 17, 2006
Secular Europe and some of its Muslims citizens continue to clash – not in direct battle but over cartoons, operas, newspaper essays and school customs. The clashes are a product of a globalized media system, according to French journalist Patrick Sabatier, with instant information about any perceived slight to faith over satellite television or internet obscuring complex issues and provoking...

Indispensable Old Media

Susan D. Moeller October 12, 2006
Communications technology has made information exchange more widespread than ever before. Consumers are able to choose between endless sources, rendering the passive absorption of filtered knowledge obsolete. The rise of new media, however, has not diminished the importance of investigative reporters researching stories for more traditional media. Journalists still make criminals and corrupt...

Software Being Developed to Monitor Opinions of US

Eric Lipton October 5, 2006
It’s no secret that world opinion of the US has hit a low point. So the US Department of Homeland Security is funding university research to develop software and monitor negative opinions expressed in foreign newspaper accounts. The agency will rely on the analysis “to identify potential threats to the nation,” explains journalist Eric Lipton. Spies traditionally rely on reading newspapers to...