In The News

Raj to Riches

Henry Foy January 31, 2011
The Jaipur Literature Festival primarily showcases Indian authors. But some Indians have criticized the annual event for perpetuating a British colonial mindset and favoring the English language. Globally renowned Indian authors typically write in English and often no longer live in India. Festival organizers contend that they’re simply trying to help Indian literature, reach a wider audience....

The Redistribution of Hope

December 24, 2010
The ability to compare and engage in long-term planning can inspire hope or fear. For the past four centuries, optimism gave Western nations advantages, as citizens embraced technology, progress and global connections. “Now hope is on the move,” suggests the Economist, as the can-do spirit emerges in China and Brazil. The US and UK are moody, hampered by polarized electorates that squabble over...

The Issue of Celebrities and Aid Is Deceptively Complex

Madeleine Bunting December 23, 2010
Nonprofits and charities increasingly rely on the goodwill of celebrities to promote worthy causes. In the past, celebrities have focused early attention on causes deemed unpopular including AIDS. Some suggest that use of celebrities provides a shortcut in reaching masses to secure funding, but critics question whether the excessive celebrity attention diminishes serious policy analysis or...

The Meaning of Russia 2018

Peter Tasker December 14, 2010
International sporting events can ease or accentuate competition and cultural differences among nations. Major events like the World Cup have great symbolic and financial value, and scheduling is a competition in itself. Russia's selection for World Cup 2018, Qatar for 2022, demonstrates “the new post-credit-crisis geopolitical realities,” explains Peter Tasker for Newsweek, as “cash-rich...

Thank God Columbus Lost His Way

Pranay Sharma November 8, 2010
India once walked a foreign-relations tightrope between the Soviet Union and the United States, yet was still inspired by the younger nation's culture, education and democratic principles. Two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, India finds itself on a similar tightrope with the US alone. “Our contradictory emotions about America explain why it hasn’t outraged us as much as it should...

Online Technology Challenges Censors – Part II

Bruce Judson October 25, 2010
More goes online in a day than one person could read in a lifetime, and that includes some of the million books released each year by publishers around the globe. This YaleGlobal series explores the challenges for authoritarian regimes in monitoring the internet’s new levels of information overload. In the second article of the series, author Bruce Judson describes how digital technology...

Why Do Terrorists Blow Themselves Up?

Riaz Hassan September 9, 2010
Nine years after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the world shares a perception that suicide attacks are unusual acts committed by the poor, the psychologically impaired, the morally deficient, the uneducated or the religious fanatics. Yet analysis of more than 1500 suicide attacks between 1981 and 2008 by author Riaz Hassan reveals far more complex motivations...