In The News

Crouching Tiger, Swimming Dragon

Nayan Chanda April 11, 2005
Nearly six hundred years after Chinese ships visited the Persian Gulf, the ground is being laid again for a permanent Chinese presence in the area through which some 40 percent of the world's oil resources travel. As Nayan Chanda writes, Chinese diplomatic visit to Pakistan last week resulted in an agreement to expand a Chinese-built port there, leaving US, Japanese, and Indian governments...

Asia Battles over War History

David McNeill April 11, 2005
The worsening relations between Japan and its northeast Asian neighbors sank a few notches as demonstrators in China attacked Japanese diplomatic missions and businesses. South Koreans, too, have vented their anger at Japan's attempt to whitewash history. Recently, Japan's Ministry of Education has approved history and civics textbooks for use in schools that are either silent over past...

Shipments of Children

Carlos H. Conde April 8, 2005
According to recent UNICEF estimates, human trafficking worldwide is now a US$10 billion industry. Most trafficked persons tend to be children. Filipino officials and NGO-workers are witnessing a disturbing rise in child trafficking within and through the Philippines. Smugglers lure young girls from the impoverished provinces to Manila by promising lucrative jobs in the capital. Once brought to...

Why Hasn't a Weak Dollar Slowed Imports?

Louis Uchitelle April 8, 2005
The dollar is dropping against other powerful currencies, but the appetite of US consumers for imported goods continues to grow. The ever-surging demand for imports is partly driven by fashion and trends, as in the case of jewelry made in Austria and China, which is being sold in the US in ever-greater quantities. Environmental awareness has also played a role, as US consumers select imported...

‘Food Should Be Left Off the Free Trade Table’ - José Bové

April 6, 2005
At the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Bové attended a workshop with prominent Yale scholars and others in the university community to discuss the status of the global peasant movement and the core issues in his work. A full transcript follows. – YaleGlobal

‘Food Should Be Left Off the Free Trade Table’

April 6, 2005
Many economists believe that trade liberalization is the main driving force that created today's dynamic international market. The increasing exchange of goods and services produced and sold around the world have far-reaching implications for different localities – for better and for worse. One important area of world trade concerning this local and global relationship is agriculture, which...

As China Sews, Few US Mills Left

Patrik Johnsson April 6, 2005
Towns like Erwin, North Carolina, are examples of the devastating impact of the mobility of textile manufacturing. Once a capital of denim fabrication, today Erwin is desolate and has few jobs to offer its citizens. Erwin's difficulties are linked to the greater decline of US textile mills – the number of people employed in them has dropped to 670,000 from 1.6 million in 1994 - and the rise...