In The News

U.S. Independence Day

July 4, 2002
A recent series of developments – from the US rejection of the Kyoto Protocol to the imposition of tariffs on steel imports to opposition to the International Criminal Court – has been raising questions about American leadership in a globalized world. An editorial in the Jakarta Post notes “Perhaps it is in the nature of a sole superpower to act unilaterally on major global issues without wasting...

Pakistanis Fume as Clothing Sales to the U.S. Tumble

Keith Bradsher June 23, 2002
Local and domestic interests are often at odds with broad issues of global concern. However, a recent New York Times dispatch from Pakistan shows how competing global policies can also create conflict in the local sphere, resulting in global ramifications. By pursuing trade 'fast-track' authority, the Bush administration has adopted a course of action that could directly impinge upon...

The War on Terrorism Takes Aim at Crime

James Dao April 7, 2002
The United States has expanded the global war on terrorism to include fighting drug and crime syndicates that operate in countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Officials are targeting these networks because evidence shows a complex nexus between crime, drugs, and terrorism. The link between these networks has strengthened since the end of the Cold War, when terrorist...

More Aid, More Need: Pledges Still Falling Short

Tim Weiner March 24, 2002
The US is not living up to its aid responsibilities despite growing concerns about global poverty after September 11, says this article in The New York Times. Though President Bush has drawn an explicit link between poverty and terrorism, and is substantially increasing aid to poor countries as a result, US aid remains restricted to specific counties and is still far less than aid from its...

India Asked to Join Central Asian Grouping

Atunl Aneja February 13, 2002
Kazakhstan wants India to join the security group Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which was originally founded to protect against terrorism flowing out of Afghanistan. Reasons for Kazakhstan’s support of India include geographical proximity and future predictions that India will be one of the largest consumers of engery in the world. Kazakhstan has large deposits of oil and natural gas....

Globalization Lessons from History

Harold James January 29, 2002
History professor Harold James argues that the political challenges globalization presents today are similar to the challenges at the turn of the twentieth century. These problems drive a wedge between the normal left/right division. As James notes, “a triple division, between anti-globalisation conservatives, pro-globalisation liberals and redistributionist leftists” occurs. With the...

That Dog Won’t Bark

William Safire January 24, 2002
China remains silent after it discovers 27 spying devices in a plane sold to them by the United States; Russia welcomes NATO to its borders; the Arab street does not publicly criticize the invasion of fellow religious extremists in Afghanistan. Why is it that whenever the United States resolves to “go it alone” anticipated opposition seems to melt away? Safire asserts that part of the reason is...