In The News

Is Globalization a Blessing or a Burden on Women?

Rezina Sultana March 6, 2006
Women, accounting for half of the world’s population and two-thirds of the world’s work hours, consistently have fewer resources and less representation at decision-making levels. Some industries, particularly in male-dominated societies, take advantage of eased movement of capital and reduced state controls on trade and investment to reduce wages for the poor, especially women. An example is...

Korea to Fight Web Attacks from China

Kim Tae-gyu March 2, 2006
In an effort to combat a growing problem of identity theft, the Korean government is taking steps to prevent access to its backdoor internet pathways from abroad. Data leakage from Korea, especially to China, has become particularly troublesome, with hackers using illegal internet providers as their main means of stealing restricted information, including resident registration numbers. The...

EU Fund to Ease Globalization Pain

James Kanter March 2, 2006
The Global Adjustment Fund is proposed as a new measure to help Europe’s economy absorb the effects of globalization. The fund will assist retraining and relocating workers whose jobs have been eliminated in ways demonstrably tied to global trade dynamics, such as outsourcing. The proposed fund comes as Europeans express increasing alarm at the prospect of foreign economic influence,...

India: Pro-America, Pro-Bush

March 1, 2006
Since the beginning of Iraq war, anti-Americanism has increased around the world. According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, however, India not only bucked the trend, but improved its opinion of the US. Seven out of every ten Indians reported a favorable view of the US. Of the 17 countries polled - including US allies like the UK, Canada, and Poland - only Americans felt more positively...

Think Again: Soft Power

Joseph S. Nye Jr. March 1, 2006
In 1990, “Foreign Policy” first analyzed “soft power.” Here, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., author of the original article, returns to correct notions that have since become associated with soft power. The concept, he asserts, is the power of “attraction,” as opposed to the power of “coercion” or “payment.” Soft power is not exclusively cultural power, yet exporting cultural goods that hold attraction...

Cartoons and the Globalization of Protests

Paul Reynolds February 28, 2006
Violence bred by the infamous Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad has spread to sub-Saharan Africa. The ubiquity of such protests, and not simply their ferocity, has surprised many commentators. The cartoon controversy is not without precedent. In 1989, Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” incurred the wrath of Iranian ayatollahs who regarded it as a heretical vision of Islam. But the...

Nigeria Counts 100 Deaths over Danish Caricatures

Lydia Polgreen February 27, 2006
Violence over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that has resulted in more than 100 deaths in Nigeria offers an example of global issues impinging on the country’s domestic politics. The country’s Muslims and Christians have a history of tension, and the cartoons prompted tit-for-tat violence. Political analysts suggest that, in Nigeria, the cartoon controversy functioned as a pretext...