In The News

China Owes Japan for Riots

April 21, 2005
Citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Japanese officials and experts in international law say that Beijing must apologize to Japan and compensate for property damage incurred in recent anti-Japanese demonstrations. The windows of the Japanese embassy and consulates were shattered and the walls smeared with paint by protestors throughout China. Many Japanese businesses have also...

The New Nationalism

David Ignatius April 20, 2005
As examples of nationalist sentiment appear around the globe, it seems that the world has entered a new era. Contrary to many analysts' beliefs, writes Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, a more interconnected world has not, in fact, eliminated the need for political borders; it has actually increased the intensity of nationalism. Citizen protests, market protectionism, nuclear...

Rising Dragon and the American Eagle – Part I

David Shambaugh April 20, 2005
Recent developments – including the high-profile visit by China's premier Wen Jiabao to South Asia – showing the rising profile of China have intensified a long-running debate in Washington. How does the growing power and influence of China affect the dominance that the United States has so far enjoyed in Asia? In the first of our two-part series, George Washington University's China...

Untapped Potential: US Science and Technology Cooperation with the Islamic World

Michael A. Levi April 19, 2005
The US relationship with the Islamic world, particularly the problem of terrorism, is a crucial issue. In order to combat terrorism, says this Brookings Institution report, the US must enact policies that address the causes of radicalism, improve the perception of the US in Muslim eyes, and drain support for terrorists in Islamic society. Although there is widespread hostility towards the US in...

Lou Dobbs Fuels American Immigration Paranoia

Evelyn Shih April 18, 2005
As the dollar continues its steady fall, many Americans have begun to fear a permanent downward spiral of the entire economy. According to this Yale Herald opinion, CNN anchor Lou Dobbs blames outsourcing and illegal immigration for this trend. For over a year, Dobbs has dedicated a permanent segment on his daily news show to those two subjects, speaking to a willing audience of middle-class...

This Is the Sound of Globalization

Jon Pareles April 15, 2005
While nation-states maintain tariffs and strictly control immigration, music needs no passport. Artists are increasingly mixing local, traditional forms with those borrowed from other parts of the world. The New York Times compiled a list of musical fusions from every corner of the globe. Thanks to the digital production and distribution – and of course, the internet – eager listeners may access...

Globalization Is Not Made in the West

Robbie Robertson April 13, 2005
Too often, globalization is seen as an exclusively Western phenomenon, an aggressive force that often endangers indigenous cultures and ways of life. But, as Robbie Robertson writes, this view is not simply reductive – it is inaccurate. "Globalization is not about rampant capitalism, technology, or homogenization," he writes, "It is about the changed environments people create...