In The News

Fashion Magazines Rush to Mold China's Sense of Style

Howard W. French October 4, 2005
China has come a long way from the privations of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Today's Chinese have more economic freedom and money than ever before, and they are using those resources to enjoy the bourgeois tastes of Western fashion and lifestyle. Western magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and FHM offer Chinese consumers advice on everything from shopping to sex....

The Home of English Football's Most Ardent Fans? Uganda

Evelyn Kiapi Matsamura September 30, 2005
Surpassing action movies and McDonald's – and perhaps even democratic governance – soccer is one passion that unites far reaches of the globe. Watched by billions and played by millions, the sport's stars are global heroes, its teams global icons, and its history a global narrative. European clubs, whose primary fan base at one time hailed almost exclusively from their respective...

Making Education the Focus of Gulf-Europe Ties

Dr. Christian Koch September 28, 2005
The annual ministerial meetings of the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council have, in recent years, been mostly oriented towards addressing pressing security and trade concerns. Over recent years, the dialogue between the two regions has mostly dealt with Iran’s nuclear program, human rights issues in the Gulf, the training of Iraqi security officials and expanding economic ties. But, according to...

India Outsources a Bollywood Film

Matthew Hays September 27, 2005
The globalizing potential of India's massive Bollywood film industry has been long documented and celebrated. Millions around the world pack movie halls from West Africa to the West Indies to watch Indian actors dance atop the moors of Scotland or by the lakes of Tajikistan. National cinemas have in many instances given way to projects conceived, financed, and developed through multi-...

Generation Jihad

Bill Powell September 27, 2005
Since 1990, the Muslim population in Europe has expanded from around 10 million to 14 million. This spike in numbers has been accompanied by a growing restless dissatisfaction in the quality of life available to Muslims, either European-born or immigrant. High unemployment and a low glass ceiling have increased the sense of marginalization felt among the younger generation of followers of Islam....

Is Brand America in Trouble?

Paul Maidment September 26, 2005
While US brands like Marlboro and Disney remain popular all over the world, the popularity of America itself is diminishing, stoked by grievances that far surpass the war in Iraq. Echoing pop star Bono's impression of "a brick through the storefront of Brand America," reporter Paul Maidment argues that there is a new, more active tone of counter-Americanism, and that it is "...

French Lesson: Taunts on Race Can Boomerang

John Tagliabue September 22, 2005
Its egalitarian principles do not allow France to officially acknowledge the existence of its minorities, but those minorities do indeed exist – and their story is not a happy one. No one knows exactly how many blacks live in France, but hardly any of them hold positions of economic or political power. Hemmed in by a "low glass ceiling," the lucky among them escape corporate...