In The News

William Greider April 19, 2007
As the US readies for the 2008 presidential election, corporate executives have divided into two camps for advising candidates on how to proceed with globalization: Supporting free trade without limits is Robert Rubin, former treasury secretary under President Clinton, and urging reform of corporate globalization and preservation of a range of skills is Ralph Gomory, a former IBM executive who...
Stephanie McCrummen April 19, 2007
Analysts often categorize the violence in Darfur as a conflict between the nomadic Arabs and agricultural Africans of Western Sudan. The victims of the violence, however, belie an overly simplistic division. Intermarriage, commerce and other contacts have long entwined identity throughout the region, but drought, land shortages and government support for the Janjaweed militias, which are guilty...
Daniel Altman April 18, 2007
Workers in the wealthy nations like the US are not losing jobs to immigrants or outsourcing, suggests globalization analyst Daniel Altman in “The International Herald Tribune.” However, intense competition among global labor markets, along with rising health-care costs in the US, could be keeping the lid on wages. “The largest cost isn't those who lose their jobs but those who have lower...
Pascal Boniface April 18, 2007
During the Cold War, France emerged as a Western advocate for the interests of the Arab world. Although conventional wisdom ascribes this special relationship to economic and political calculations, foreign affairs specialist Pascal Boniface argues that France’s motivations are more complex. A number of strategic concerns have been at the root of the French-Arab alliance since 1967. Good...
Angela Doland April 17, 2007
As predicted, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal captured the first round in the French presidential election that featured globalization as a central issue. According to a survey last year, 64 percent of the French view globalization as a threat to their nation’s commercial autonomy. Yet the election revealed varied perspectives: Some candidates favored globalization, but with...
Sabam Siagian April 17, 2007
Indonesia is emerging as an increasingly prominent country in international affairs, but its interests may be best met by stabilizing its relations with regional powers in Southeast Asia. In particular, as Sabam Siagian contends, Indonesia can benefit tremendously by forging strong ties with Singapore, widely recognized as a modern economic force. Although there seems to be a desire to establish...
Katrin Bennhold April 16, 2007
The main issue for the French is how to cope with globalization, suggests one analyst. “In few other West European countries do governments of all stripes pay such lip-service to the anti-globalization movement,” writes Katrin Bennhold for “The International Herald Tribune. France has benefited immensely from foreign investment – yet two thirds of voters view globalization as a “threat to jobs.”...