In The News

Carmakers Around World Are Turning to India for Parts

Saritha Rai June 20, 2003
India’s auto parts industry is finding new success as global carmakers struggle to find low-cost, high-quality parts. It is these two qualifications that give India, with its cheap skilled workers and locally produced raw materials, an edge over other developing economies. But although the industry is growing rapidly within the country, problems remain. Competition from other South Asian...

China Remains Wary of the US-Led World Order

Robert Sutter June 18, 2003
As it rises in economic strength, China is currently cooperating with the US-dominated global power structure. But this cooperation may not last, argues China scholar Robert Sutter. US attempts to contain China through international organizations and a regional military presence have frustrated China's leaders, who dream of a grander Chinese presence in Asia and the world. Beijing has also...

Making Trinkets in China, and a Deadly Dust

Joseph Kahn June 18, 2003
The negative effects that unbridled capitalism can have on workers in developing countries raises the hackles of many anti-globalization activists. This New York Times article describes the severe diseases that Chinese workers have developed in the dreadful working environment of a jewelry company that exports its products to the US and other Western countries. To the author, these scenes...

Deja-vu All Over Again

Tobias Buck June 16, 2003
At Doha-level trade meetings, the EU’s policies on agriculture are seen as hampering world trade liberalization. To ensure that Europe might have some influence at the next world trade talks, the EU farm commissioner has been pushing to reform widely its position on agriculture. But after yet another round of EU talks, this article argues, it can be expected that it will be an “uphill struggle”...

‘Dubai Aid City’ Launched

Jamila Qadir June 16, 2003
Plans for “Dubai Aid City” were recently released by the United Arab Emirates with promises that the complex will have both humanitarian and economic benefits. The site, described as a “fully integrated aid distribution and storage facility,” will provide a strategic location for international aid organizations to dispense aid to surrounding locales, including Iraq, Eastern Europe, the Indian...

Patient May Have Transmitted Monkeypox, Official Says

Lawrence K. Altman June 13, 2003
Small African rodents have infected over 60 Americans with Monkeypox, a virus endemic in West and Central Africa. The international and domestic trade web brought the animals from Ghana to the United States, where they were then sold to distributors. Along the way, the rodents infected prairie dogs that in turn transmitted the virus to humans, creating the first Monkeypox outbreak in American...

U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Burmese Junta

Seth Mydans June 13, 2003
In an effort to support the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, in the past the US imposed a five year economic ban against Myanmar's military Junta. But these tactics were inconsequential; Myanmar (Burma) continued to thrive through relations with its regional neighbors and $300 million in exports to US clothing and footwear companies. Following a recent attack on Suu Kyi and her entourage...