In The News

Dam Building Threatens China's 'Grand Canyon'

Jim Yardley March 10, 2004
Dam projects are often controversial, for they require the displacement of peoples, destruction of the riparian zone, and other environmental consequences. In China, most attention has focused on the large Three Gorges Dam, set to be completed in 2009 at an expense of $25 billion and the displacement of one million people. There is, however, another project worth paying attention to, though it...

Bush Administration Should Stop Turning Refugees Away

Cheryl Little March 9, 2004
With Haiti's political system in turmoil after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure, the US is experiencing a rise in Haitian refugees attempting to leave their home. Despite the legitimate fears of violence many of these people face, say two immigrant advocates, the US has turned a cold shoulder – and turned Haitians back from US shores. For over two years now, the Bush...

Moments Before the Union, "Old" Europe Gets Cold Feet

Shada Islam March 3, 2004
As Europe's leaders prepare for their expansion party, they fear immigrant gate-crashers. Shada Islam notes that widespread fears of immigrants flooding Western Europe in search of employment, welfare, and health benefits has forced many governments to enact restrictions to stem this supposed flood. But the facts prove that these fears are unfounded. Past history shows immigration slows once...

It Must Be Something in the Water

Gamal Nkrumah March 3, 2004
The Nile River Basin of Africa marks one of the poorest areas of the world. Population numbers are unsustainable with the current water resources and are only expected to grow. With too many people competing for too little water, the Nile River has become a bastion of controversy. Downstream lies Egypt, the most well-developed of the nations and the one that takes the most water. Upstream,...

Outsourcing Debate - Part I

Rafiq Dossani February 25, 2004
The steady outflow of jobs, especially white-collar ones from the US is emerging as a major issue in the US. In part one of our three-part series on the outsourcing debate two scholars explain the reasons. In recent years, US manufacturing jobs have declined as corporations looked for cheap labor overseas. Still, it was long assumed that service work would provide continued growth for the US and...

If We Go, Let's Stay Until Job Is Done

Joseph L. Galloway February 25, 2004
With US nation-building efforts underway in Afghanistan and Iraq, can Washington afford to sink money, time, and human resources into yet another foreign country? For the sake of over 7 million Haitians, says this Miami Herald commentary, once the political will is mustered, the answer should be 'Yes'. Despite having attempted three times in the 20th century to build a stable Haiti,...

A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All

February 24, 2004
A new report issued by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization acknowledges that globalization's "potential for good is immense," but points to record unemployment levels as a sign that globalization has not met the majority of men and women's "simple and legitimate aspirations for decent jobs and a better future for their children." The...