In The News

Globalization Wilts Flowering Industry

Joshua Goodman October 23, 2006
Companies such as Dole Fresh Flowers downsize in Latin America to confront increasing competition coming from Asia and Africa. Some Dole workers suspect that the company imposed lay-offs because strong unions opposed long hours and exposure to pesticides. Increasing cost of fuel and a decline in the dollar also cut profits for the Colombian flower industry. China is steadily increasing its...

US and China Urge North Korea to Return to Talks

Thom Shanker October 20, 2006
Both China and the US call for North Korea to return to Six-Party Talks and hash out a plan to end North Korean nuclear research. The US secretary of state traveled to Japan, China, South Korea and Russia, urging a multilateral effort in putting a halt to any attempt by North Korea to trade nuclear wares. China, once reticent about imposing harsh measures on its destitute neighbor, has...

Out of India, A “Third Wave of Globalization” Emerges

Anand Giridharadas October 19, 2006
India has become a source of companies with cash, capable of major takeovers that shake up world industries. Tata – unknown throughout much of the Western world – could become such a global giant with its $10 million bid to purchase Cours Group, a British-Dutch steelmaker. The trend is the “third wave of globalization,” according to one analyst. The first wave was colonialism and the second was...

The Globalization Index

Paul Laudicina October 19, 2006
The impacts of globalization and roads to integration are almost as varied as the number of countries in the world. “Foreign Policy” and the A.T. Kearney consulting firm have released the sixth annual ranking of 62 countries based on their degree of globalization. The analysis focuses on categories of economic integration, personal contact, technological connectivity and political engagement....

China Returns to Africa

Paul Kennedy October 16, 2006
In the early 15th century, the Chinese Admiral Zheng He made a series of naval expeditions, traveling as far as East Africa, bringing back ivory, gold, and even a few giraffes. Shortly after the expeditions, the Ming Dynasty banned the masted, seagoing craft, initiating a period of voluntary isolation that lasted for almost 600 years. Yet recently, China’s economic policies have turned back...

OPEC President Scrambles for Output-Cut Consensus

Bhushan Bahree October 16, 2006
Consumers are unlikely to be sympathetic, but OPEC’s president is striving to get the cartel to reduce oil production to halt an ongoing fall in oil prices. While prices are still more than twice as high as they are three years ago, they have fallen considerably off their recent peaks. President Edmund Daukoru is determined to prevent any further drop as the world’s economy slows. Individual...

Global Sludge Ends in Tragedy for Ivory Coast

Lydia Polgreen October 10, 2006
When a tanker leased by Trafigura, a multinational oil and metal trading company, docked in Amsterdam and hired the Amsterdam Port Services (APS) to process the waste it was carrying, the toxic sludge was found to be hazardous. Refusing to pay the high price asked by the APS to dispose of the material, the tanker took the waste back on board. Several weeks later, the tanker arrived at Abidjan,...