In The News

China’s Tyranny Has the Best Hi-Tech Help

Jonathan Mirsky January 18, 2006
In China, searching for the word “democracy” on the Internet can lead to a decade spent behind bars. Chinese Internet users are subject to surveillance, content blocking and harsh punishment for posting or viewing forbidden material in what amounts to the largest program of state censorship ever implemented. The policy contradicts those who maintain that political reform will surely follow...

Educating for the 21st Century – Part II

Orly Friedman January 17, 2006
Orly Friedman visits an experimental boarding school that introduces the tools of globalization to impoverished children. Started by technology entrepreneur Abraham George, Shanti Bhavan aims to be a world-class institution that propels India’s poorest students into the prosperous digital age, giving them access to world news and computer learning software. Despite challenges of running a modern...

No Level Playing Field in Football’s Globalisation

Larry Elliott January 14, 2006
In an increasingly prevalent variation on the “brain drain” issue that troubles small, poorer nations, “leg drain” is taking its toll on the world of football. But this trend is a mixed bag. A recent study suggests that globalization has a two-prong effect on the sport: It contributes to increasingly higher salaries for the best football players in Europe, yet also serves as an equalizer for...

In Asia, English Is Useful But Mandarin Is Rising

Simon Montlake January 13, 2006
Given the innate capacity for language acquisition in schoolchildren, it makes sense to introduce immersion programs at a young age. In many Asian countries, elementary schools already instruct in English, a language seen as widely useful, especially for global business. Now Thailand has started programs to train students in Mandarin, perhaps equally practical in the growing inter-Asian economy....

Gunning for the World

David Morton January 13, 2006
The National Rifle Association has traditionally represented a highly specific interest group among the US population. Increasingly, though, the NRA has come to link the success of its pro-gun lobbying in the US with similar struggles underway in other nations. NRA leaders have exhibited a sophisticated understanding of increased interconnectivity among world cultures, and the most practiced...

Insults from America

Mike McPhate January 13, 2006
Indian call center employees have discovered an unexpected drawback in their line of work. Of millions of calls, about 5 percent involve bigotry from US customers who are angry about outsourcing and grasp an opportunity to speak their minds. Call center workers hear attacks about cultural inferiority and accusations about reaping the benefits of outsourcing at the expense of US workers. These...

Educating for the 21st Century – Part I

Sara Schlemm January 12, 2006
Two Yale students recently traveled to India and China, and in this series they write about how, through education, the two emerging countries are preparing for the 21st century. In the first part, Sara Schlemm explores why China seeks to raise the profile of its institutions by opening doors to more international students who wish to study in China. For years, China has seen many of its...