In The News

Worries about the WSF

Saleem H. Ali April 28, 2006
The World Social Forum (WSF), intended to promote a “democratic debate of ideas,” emerged as an alternative to the more exclusive World Economic Forum, and in March Karachi hosted 30,000 lively WSF delegates. The young activists from around the world who attend WSF expect that global leaders will resist relying on short-term economic parameters alone in making decisions that can have consequences...

Learning Globalization From Football

Branko Milanovic April 21, 2006
Football is not only popular, but probably the world's most globalized profession. The most talented Brazilian, Cameroonian and Japanese football players move from country to country more so than doctors, computer scientists, blue-collar workers or bank tellers. On the club circuit, rules have evolved so that international character defines top teams, and statistics show that success...

Bit of Malay Culture Is Now Vanishing Under Muslim Rules

Chris Prystay April 21, 2006
Introduced to Southeast Asia in the 13th century, Islam gradually supplanted Buddhism and Hinduism, but co-existed with ancient traditions over the centuries. Since the 1970s, however, fundamentalist Islam has spiked in multicultural countries such as Malaysia, with Muslim students and scholars galvanized by Iran emerging as an Islamic state. Political gains of Parti Islam parallel the increasing...

Indonesia’s Progressive Form of Islam Is Not Something That Thailand Needs to Fear

Don Pathan April 17, 2006
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country and plays a leading role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As a result, Indonesians question how Muslims of the Middle East determine international perceptions of Islam and recognize the potential for serving as a guiding force. Indonesia could offer a stabilizing influence in Malay-speaking southern Thailand where 1200 people have...

China Curbs Magazines from Foreign Publishers

Geoffrey A. Fowler April 10, 2006
All kinds of international firms look eagerly to booming China as the world’s largest market, particularly its growing urban class. Competition requires not only preparing a product, but also knowing Chinese regulations. China has long taken steps to control what its citizens can buy – and publishers have discovered that the government will limit lifestyle magazines for Chinese shopping lists....

In Afghan Christian, Story of a Larger Conflict

Roger Cohen March 28, 2006
The public demand in Afghanistan for a death sentence on Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who converted to Christianity 15 years ago, has excited outrage on the part of the West. Germany, in particular, with more than 2000 troops in Afghanistan and a fervent regard for religious choice, has expressed discontent. The US has weighed in as well, upset about the “flouting of universal democratic values.”...

Democracy Isn’t “Western”

Amartya Sen March 28, 2006
Since the 1993 publication of Samuel Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations,” culture has made deep inroads into the vocabulary of the political scientist. Huntington argues that the post-Cold War world would be shaped by conflicts between “civilizations,” And US foreign policy would be tied inextricably to the preservation of Western civilization. Huntington’s supporters claim the ongoing war...