In The News

How Dr. Chan Intends to Defend the Planet from Pandemics

June 19, 2007
Diseases can emerge on any point on the globe, spreading quickly, and health providers cannot have vaccines ready for every disease in every location. Complicating the treatment of any infectious disease: Entities within any country may regard disease as a business opportunity, a security risk, a reason for shame or a matter to hide. Indonesia only recently provided the World Health Organization...

A Triumph for Hamas... But a Tragedy for the Palestinians?

Donald Macintyre June 15, 2007
Muslims and non-Muslims alike around the world have long hoped for political and economic stability in the Palestinian territories. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dissolved what was once called a “national unity government,” formed after the Hamas party defeated Fatah in 2006 parliamentary elections. After a week of chaos, Hamas fighters, donned in hoods, control Gaza Strip and...

Should We Globalize Labor Too?

Jason DeParle June 13, 2007
Witnessing the quiet desperation of the poor, willing to work hard but lacking resources, often ignites anger and ideas. Neither trade nor traditional occupations such as goat-herding can provide enough subsistence for the rural poor, such as those who live in Nepal. Economist Lant Pritchett proposes “a giant guest-worker program that would put millions of the world’s poorest people to work in...

Seething Anger in a Broken Middle East

Fawaz A. Gerges June 12, 2007
Early in 2003, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman applied a rule common in retail pottery stores, “You break it, you own it,” to the then-impending invasion in Iraq. The succinct analogy warned that the US and other invading nations would bear responsibility for rebuilding Iraq. More than four years later, political and social institutions throughout the Middle East are in ruins, with...

Worlds Collide in India Over Global Warming

Jo Johnson June 8, 2007
Leaders of industrial nations meeting at the G8 summit have announced plans to open negotiations for global action to slow climate change and involve emerging economies India and China. China and India, with the world’s largest populations, contribute increasing proportions of carbon emissions, which spur global warming. The world has many inequities, both among nations and within, reminds Jo...

Sarkozy's Victory; Ca Y'est, C'est Fini!!!

June 5, 2007
Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant to France, campaigned for the French presidency on promises to restrict immigration. Sarkozy policies would limit benefits for immigrants and discourage applicants who cannot provide “qualified labor,” reports this editorial from the Daily Trust in Abuja, Nigeria. After his election, Sarkozy also promised to serve all of France and selected a...

Globalization's Gains Come With a Price

Bob Davis June 3, 2007
After Mexico opened its economy to foreign trade and investment in the 1990s, low-income workers benefited, but only for a short while. “As trade, foreign investment and technology have spread, the gap between economic haves and have-nots has frequently widened, not only in wealthy countries like the U.S. but in poorer ones like Mexico, Argentina, India and China as well,” reports an article in...