In The News

Still No Votes in Leipzig

Jonathan Freedland September 22, 2004
When Bob Dole was running for US President, he once dismissed a Finnish reporter's questions of by saying, "No votes in Leipzig." Dole's sense of geography may have been lacking, but his sense of who was important to his campaign was, at the time, perfectly on target: Only American voters' opinions would count come Election Day 1996. Back then, only Americans bore the...

Iran on the Brink

Henry Sokolski September 22, 2004
World leaders continue to debate the most effective way to prevent development of Iran's nuclear arsenal. Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, argues that the international community must now also address an even more ominous threat of nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East. This will require instituting - and enforcing - strict rules...

Looms of Doom

Sutapa Mukerjee September 22, 2004
The collapse of the specialized silk industry in parts of India results from years of mismanaged industry policies and an influx of Chinese silk - a cheaper, more durable alternative. Five years ago, the Indian government allowed the free import of Chinese crepe silks, reversing a protectionist ban that had only served to produce a demand for smuggled Chinese goods. The new policy has seen a...

The Day Civil Society Got its Nose Bloodied in Hanoi

David Koh September 21, 2004
Attendees of the Asia-Europe People's Forum in Hanoi received the cold shoulder by the Vietnamese government in early September. Visitors and journalists alike were denied access to the non-governmental conference by the host nation. Yet according this Straits Times commentary, the rude awakening should not come as a surprise. Vietnam has slowly reformed since the mid-1980s, only recently...

In Some States, Foreign Trade Means Jobs

Timothy Aeppel September 21, 2004
When outsourcing started becoming a trend in America's many industries, Midwestern states, such as Ohio and Michigan, suffered the biggest job losses. Compared to other US regions, however, the Midwest experienced higher-than-average exports, which helped lessen the impact on employment. A Bank of America market strategist suggests that "the more integrated a state is with the global...

Budapest, the Next Bangalore? New EU Members Join the Outsourcing Race

Stefan Wagstyl September 21, 2004
American companies have become the world's leaders in outsourcing services to regions with low labor costs. Western European firms, previously slow to follow this global trend, have now begun outsourcing labor to central and eastern European countries, whose advantages include geographical proximity and language proficiency. Despite early optimism, a few obstacles lie ahead. First,...

Everyone Wants A Bomb

George Monbiot September 21, 2004
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was founded with noble intentions, but today this same agency is badly misguided, says author George Monbiot. The initial hope was that nuclear fission would solve the world's problems by creating alternative energy sources. According to IAEA statutes, non-nuclear countries were supplied the essentials for creating nuclear power, to be used...