In The News

Mission to Save Planet is “Failing”

December 6, 2005
Two separate groups have recently released dismal assessments of the state of the world, warning that humanity is not doing enough to make life on the planet equitable, sustainable and safe. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has lambasted national governments for failing to act decisively against global warming, warning that unchecked climate change is already exacerbating a host of other human...

France is Not Alone in Living Above a Volcano

Michel Rocard November 18, 2005
In the past weeks, the violent and contagious Paris riots drew the attention of the world to the presence of a large mass of unemployed minority teens in France’s urban center. Many commentators have focused their responses on the lack of social integration of the country’s predominantly North African minorities. Offering a different interpretation, former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard...

Dutch Virtue of Tolerance Under Strain

Roger Cohen November 17, 2005
While immigration, especially of Muslims, has long been an issue for Europeans, it has recently taken on a greater urgency. The Netherlands is a prime example of a European society in which the failed integration of Muslims and their children has produced an untenable situation. No longer is the debate on Muslim immigration centered on the capacities of welfare systems. Now it is a matter of...

Shopkeeper Took on Coke - and Won

Jo Tuckman November 17, 2005
“I thought that they were going to be able to say to me, 'Look, ant, we stamped on you,” declared a triumphant Raquel Chavez, “I said I'd rather die with my dignity intact than be trampled on.” In a landmark case, the 49-year-old corner shop owner from a poor neighborhood of Mexico City brought charges against a Coca-Cola subsidiary and fifteen of its distributors in 2003. Following a...

Musharraf's Islamist Challenge

November 10, 2005
Islamist groups have long used charity to boost their support amongst poor Muslims. They are now coming to the aid of the millions left homeless, injured, or hungry by last month's devastating earthquake in Pakistan—to great effect. Refugee camps run by organizations like Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan's most powerful Islamist group, feature far better medical care than their state-run...

Trade Not Aid is the Key to Development

Mustapha Nabli November 10, 2005
Success at the Doha Round of world trade talks would be a major step towards reducing poverty in developing countries. Looking back over the last four decades and focusing on East Asia and China, where trade has been instrumental in surmounting poverty, it is obvious that trade, not aid, is responsible for successful development. The opportunity of the Doha Round is crucial for the Middle East...

This Is Not Only a French Crisis - All of Europe Must Heed the Flames

Timothy Garton Ash November 10, 2005
With urban insurrection raging from Normandy in the north to Marseille in the south, it is now impossible for the French to dismiss the country’s enormous demographic faultlines with appeals to republican greatness and unity. The riots revealed that France, the European country with the largest proportion of men and women of immigrant descent, faces a tremendous social and cultural crisis. In a...