In The News

Pope Calls for “Action Now” to Save Planet

Philip Pullella June 18, 2015
Pope Frances, leader of the Catholic Church, is calling for immediate action on climate change and poverty. “In the ‘Laudato Si (Praise Be), On the Care of Our Common Home,’ Francis calls for a change of lifestyle in rich countries steeped in a ‘throwaway’ consumer culture and an end to an ‘obstructionist attitudes’ that sometimes put profit before the common good,” reports Philip Pullella for...

Desperate Millions Flee Poverty, Persecution and Inequality

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller June 11, 2015
The world confronts an immigration challenge as vast numbers flee conflict and religious persecution in the Middle East and South Asia along with stark poverty in Africa and South America. The world has 50 million forcibly displaced people, and millions more leave their homelands in search of opportunity. Widening inequality and demographics, with low fertility rates in wealthy nations and high...

Displaced Again and Again, Some African Migrants Had No Plan to Land in Italy

Jim Yardley May 5, 2015
Despite the Mediterranean journey’s many dangers and a hostile welcome on arrival, Italy remains a destination of hope for refugees. Warm weather and expanding conflict in North Africa is increasing the numbers attempting the crossing of the Mediterranean to land on Italian shores. Laborers who worked in Libya and had no plans of heading to Europe suggest their only option is fleeing expanding...

In Latin America, New Urgency to Educate Stirs Up Outdated System

Whitney Eulich and Ruxandra Guidi March 4, 2015
Teach for America is spreading beyond the US border. Enseña por México, Teach for Mexico, is one of various programs in seven Latin American countries that replicate the model by sending recent college graduates into low-income schools. Mexico’s program operates in 65 schools across four states; similar, older programs in Chile and Peru garner praise for improved educational outcomes. Eight Latin...

An Opportunity That India Let Go

Nayan Chanda August 11, 2014
India may have missed a rare opportunity to reform an antiquated program of agriculture subsidies with the support of the World Trade Organization. The newly installed Modi administration also signaled to the global business community that the country may not be ready for serious reform. “By standing alone against all, including its partners in BRICS, the G-20 and G-33, and threatening to scuttle...

Indian Objections Sink WTO Deal

Shawn Donnan and Amy Kazmin August 1, 2014
India has blocked a massive World Trade Organization deal designed to reduce subsidies for agriculture goods, thus boosting trade for the world’s poorest nations. WTO decisions require consensus of all members. The deadlock after years of negotiation risks “plunging the body back into a crisis of credibility,” report Shawn Donnan and Amy Kazmin for the Financial Times. Many trade observers...

Africa’s Jihadists, On Their Way

August 1, 2014
The most extreme ideologies tap into widespread frustrations and flourish in nations and communities that fail their people with poor education and governance. The Economist interviews youths who live in Chad, a country rich in oil but inept in distributing benefits to its citizens: “Most would rather have jobs than become religious marauders, but given the chance they may be tempted to join a...