In The News

A Self-Defeating War

George Soros August 16, 2006
The metaphor “war on terror” is inappropriate, leading to real conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon and causing far more civilian deaths than the 9/11 attacks. A majority in the US now recognizes that the war in Iraq in particular is a huge and costly blunder, but remains stymied, like US leaders, about how to withdraw from the nation without creating more problems. More Iraqis died in July...

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: How Inevitable Is an Islamist Future?

Cameron Brown August 15, 2006
Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, observers have anticipated the next big Islamist takeover. Analyzing attempts at power grabs and current trends, Cameron Brown concludes that, in fact, democracy is proving the most effective way for Islamist groups to take control of state apparatus. For now, Islamist parties are the major opposition party in many states throughout the Middle East, and Brown...

Europe's Muslims: Economic Worries Top Concerns About Identity

August 11, 2006
Muslims and non-Muslims alike in the UK share worries about growing Islamic extremism, even though European Muslims as a whole tend to favor moderate Islam, according to a spring 2006 poll on immigration and identity, conducted by the Pew Research Foundation. The results follow a year that included bombings in London and Madrid and the riots sparked by Danish cartoons, but were released before...

The Odd Couple: Japan and China, The Politics of History and Identity

Haruko Satoh August 7, 2006
The Yasukuni Shrine has become a symbol of Japanese nationalism and a major target for Chinese criticism. China and Japan still carry bitterness since fighting each other during World War II, and Japanese leaders’ visits to the resting place for 14 class-A war criminals further strain the relationship. The bitterness, established in a Cold War framework, has little sense of purpose other than...

Wal-Mart Finds That Its Formula Doesn’t Fit Every Culture

Mark Landler August 3, 2006
Wal-Mart executives eventually realized that requiring employees to smile at customers or participate in the “morning Wal-Mart chant” at its German stores did not mesh well with either the staid employees or customers. Differences in corporate and national culture, combined with competition from local discount vendors, hampered success of the giant US retailer, which left Germany after eight...

Korea Greets New Era of Multiculturalism

Shin Hae-in August 3, 2006
In a world of quick travel and increasing flows of people in and out of countries, South Korea is reflecting on its prejudices toward foreigners and Korean children of mixed race. A nation that has endured centuries of invasions from China and Japan, South Korea has long had a national goal of maintaining a uniquely Korean bloodline. Some citizens worry that recent government revisions to...

How to Deal With NGOs – Part II, Russia

Liliana N. Proskuryakova August 3, 2006
President Vladimir Putin recognizes that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are useful tools for shaping global and national policy – and also for criticizing other world leaders. The second article in this two-part series examines Putin’s two-pronged approach in handling NGOs, a strategy on display during the recent G-8 summit in St. Petersburg: While keeping many Russian-based NGOs and...