In The News

Drop in Students Abroad Threatens Japan's "Edge"

Crystal Wong May 21, 2007
A growing number of Chinese and Korean students attend college in the US, but the number of Japanese students crossing the Pacific has been on the decline for the last decade. While this trend can be attributed to a variety of factors, the most significant is Japan’s traditional labor system: Firms hire graduates straight out of college, offering them in-house training and lifetime employment....

Feminist, Socialist, Muslim: Woman Puts Denmark Into Turmoil

Ian Traynor May 17, 2007
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, 25, upends many people’s assumptions about a candidate for parliament – and not just because of her age. The young social worker is a devout Muslim who declines to shake hands with men and wears a traditional headscarf, but also supports progressive Danish policies including abortion and gay rights. Her positions – and particularly her insistence on wearing a headscarf, which...

End of the Melting Pot?

Ashley Pettus May 14, 2007
Seeking jobs and opportunity in a new country, immigrants often head for communities where family members, friends or acquaintances have already settled. The practice creates pockets of ethnic groups, changing demographics and culture in many US towns, often raising questions about the ability for immigrants to assimilate. This article in “Harvard Magazine” compares immigration throughout the...

The Islamist Mouseketeers: Hamas Mickey Mouse Teaches Jihad

May 10, 2007
Clips from the Palestinian show “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” feature a bright-colored set and a human-sized mouse with big black ears. But resemblance to the cartoon character of Mickey Mouse stops there. The voice of this Disney look-alike, Farfur, is shrill – more urgent than happy – as he rattles off vocabulary that goes beyond the understanding of most young children: world leadership, liberation,...

Malaysia Backpedals on Modernity

Sadanand Dhume May 3, 2007
A fundamentalist streak of Islam within Malaysia is coming into conflict with the flourishing civil society that has made the nation a model of peaceful and democratic development in Southeast Asia. Muslims in Malaysia, unlike their Hindu or Christian compatriots, are ultimately subject to strict Islamic law, known as sharia. In fact, the national judiciary cannot override a ruling by a sharia...

The Strange Death of Multiculturalism

Ian Buruma May 1, 2007
European society once was organized according to religion. People headed to neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and even jobs based on religious affiliation and word of mouth from fellow congregants. Muslims began immigrating into European communities after secularization took hold, and secular society became alarmed about a religious pillar rising alone in integrated communities. “In the end, the...

West Rises in China’s Back Yard

Ariana Eunjung Cha April 17, 2007
Social mobility in China means more comfortable and attractive homes, and developers move fast to build homes and offices with a Western aesthetic. In Beijing, small housing developments such as Venice Aquatic City and Thames Town are modeled after villages scattered throughout Europe. Many Chinese associate foreign styles with wealth, and view their investment in such developments as a step up...