In The News

Borders of Tolerance

Christopher Caldwell October 3, 2005
At a time when Mexican immigration has penetrated every corner of the United States – and, many Americans feel, stolen millions of jobs from native citizens – the US public demands an ever-tougher stand against immigrants. Yet, paradoxically, Americans are also growing increasingly accustomed to living with Mexican immigrants – immigrants who are "Christian, familial, hard working farm...

Workers' Protest Spurs Arab Emirates to Act

Hassan M. Fattah September 25, 2005
More than half of Dubai's one million people are poor immigrants from South Asia and the Philippines. Eight hundred of those residents, dissatisfied workers who have not been paid in five months, recently marched on the emirate's Ministry of Labor. It was a rare show of labor unrest in a city-state that tolerates much in the name of business and little in the way of dissent. Even more...

Enduring an IT Eclipse

A. Sheshabalaya August 30, 2005
In recent years, Bangalore has outpaced Silicon Valley in the global innovation race. This is not a temporary blip, writes author Ashutosh Sheshabalaya, but a fast-evolving reality to which the American IT industry must adapt for the long haul. While offshoring is hardly a new phenomenon, it was previously restricted to back-office support functions. This is no longer the case: IBM and Hewlett...

Home, Sweet Home – for Some

August 17, 2005
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the African continent hosts the world's most mobile population. Due to adverse conditions, citizens of countries will flee, at least temporarily, often taking with them skills that are greatly needed back home. This phenomenon, sometimes called "brain drain" – coupled with shortages in crucial fields, including...

An Islamic Alienation

David Rieff August 15, 2005
The London bombings perpetrated by native-born Muslims have forced Europeans to take a serious look at the status of the Continent’s Muslim minority. Suggestions that the Muslim alienation is due to anger in Muslim communities over the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, do not provide an adequate answer. Rieff argues that the reasons of alienation run much deeper than this. Europe’...

Death in the Sun

Dan Glaister August 9, 2005
California is well recognized for its wealth of agriculture, but the large number of illegal immigrants who drive the industry are rarely seen or acknowledged. Often forced to work under alarming conditions and minimal wages, an estimated 11 million undocumented aliens work in agriculture across the United States. Although in the past, state authorities have paid little attention to heat-...

Citizens Fight Back with Cellphones and Blogs

Mark Glaser July 28, 2005
In the past decade, advances in technology and communications have changed the way people live, connecting the world as never before. One currently-unfolding change is the way viewers experience the news: According to journalist Mark Glaser, modern tools - weblogs, cellphone cameras (both still and video) - are facilitating a new brand of citizen journalism. In the aftermath of the July 7 and...