In The News

International Tension Isn't Good for U.S. or Mexico

Enrique Rangel May 28, 2003
When U.S President George Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox took offices in their respective countries, the U.S. and Mexico promised to have the friendliest relationship seen in years. However, the strain caused by differences on Iraq and Washington's focus on terrorism is worrying more and more people on both sides. Immigration issues have further worsened this relationship. Despite...

Remake Man

Tad Friend May 26, 2003
In a telling commentary that combines capitalism in Hollywood with the American Dream, a contributor to the New Yorker magazine, Tad Friend, takes the reader through the making of Roy Lee as the "remake king." Lee, a Korean-American, whose parents moved from South Korea to the United States in the late 1960s, has carved out a unique role for himself in Hollywood: It is one that...

Terrorism Needs 'New Definition'

Gwynne Dyer May 24, 2003
This opinion piece in the Jakarta Post by Gwynne Dyer, a columnist based in London, argues that "since we're going to have to live with it (terrorism) for a long time, we need to get both the numbers and the strategy into perspective." He notes that the numbers – 153 dead in one week from terrorist bomb attacks across the world – are nothing compared to the thousands who die every...

The Unseen War

Michael Massing May 19, 2003
In this article, veteran journalist Michael Massing expresses concern about the American media's coverage of the Iraq war. The Coalition Media Center in Baghdad was a very "uninformative" source for the media, as described by Massing, yet its official news briefings – which were usually very upbeat and pro-Coalition – seemed to be accepted as 'the final word' by most...

EU Ministers Snub Matrix Reloaded at Cannes

May 16, 2003
Many associate the French city Cannes with the most prestigious film festival on a global level. At the Cannes Film festival, films from all over the world are viewed, judged and awarded prizes. Apart from films from even the remotest corners of the world, Hollywood too makes an appearance, as the sequel to Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, did this year. While this futuristic drama, with its special...

The China Syndrome

Paul Krugman May 13, 2003
While American critics of China blame media censorship for Beijing's initial mishandling of SARS, this opinion piece in The New York Times argues that the US is no less vulnerable to the influence of the state. According to economist Paul Krugman, although media companies in the United States are privately owned, they remain deferential to the political regime. The nexus between the US...

Under Global Spotlight, China's New Leaders Have to Reform

Susan L. Shirk May 12, 2003
China's integration into the global capitalist economy has been predicted by successive US presidents and others to be a necessary pre-cursor to expanded freedoms and democracy. Ironically, it may turn out to be a domestic Chinese issue – the fast-spreading Sars epidemic – that generates real openness and government accountability. China-scholar Susan L. Shirk explains that Sars has given...