In The News

Free Trade, Minus the Warmth and the Longing

Maria Golia March 28, 2006
Egyptian businessmen once anticipated the free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US as an opportunity to decentralize and privatize the economy. However, the Egyptian cabinet already embraces entrepreneurship and reform, and with FTA negotiations failing, the agreement increasingly seems redundant. This has resulted in high-level disagreements between the Egyptian and US governments, thus rendering...

In Afghan Christian, Story of a Larger Conflict

Roger Cohen March 28, 2006
The public demand in Afghanistan for a death sentence on Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who converted to Christianity 15 years ago, has excited outrage on the part of the West. Germany, in particular, with more than 2000 troops in Afghanistan and a fervent regard for religious choice, has expressed discontent. The US has weighed in as well, upset about the “flouting of universal democratic values.”...

French MPs Say Song Downloads Must Work on Any Player

Angelique Chrisafis March 27, 2006
France has rejected any monopoly in the music download market, requiring that downloads be accessible to any type of digital player. The legislation would be a blow to Apple’s online music, ITunes, which dominates the global online music market and can only be played on the Apple iPod. The decision reflects a growing sentiment among French politicians against foreign domination of any sector of...

Latin Blues

Ernesto Zedillo March 27, 2006
Some analysts anticipate that successful populist campaigns, with irresponsible campaign promises and unrealistic goals, could plunge Latin America into economic disaster and thus reverse democratic gains from the past 20 years. Yet former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, now director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, notes that every Latin American politician recognizes the...

Help Wanted as Immigration Faces Overhaul

S. Mitra Kalita March 27, 2006
Some landscapers, restaurants and amusement parks insist that affluent Americans no longer want to do certain types of jobs, tedious seasonal work that was once the province of high school and college students – despite increasing wages for low-skilled work and finder fees. Employers run ads to find low-skilled help, but to no avail. So the business owners resort to hiring seasonal guest workers...

How Bush’s Nuclear Deal Burned Canada

Leonard S. Spector March 24, 2006
To achieve the deal that was the focal point of his recent visit to India, President Bush retracted an original US demand that all of India’s nuclear facilities be classified as civilian facilities and subjected to permanent IAEA monitoring. Under the current agreement – yet to be approved by legislative bodies in both nations – India will have both civilian and military facilities, with the...

The New Globalization Guru?

Eric Hobsbawm March 23, 2006
“The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, and establish connections everywhere…. Modern Industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist.” Philosopher Karl Marx made some uncanny predictions,...