In The News

The Descent of Man

Dennis Lim August 3, 2005
Darwin's Nightmare, Hubert Sauper's new documentary released in the United States this week, chronicles an evolutionary and globalization-related predicament. Decades ago, the Nile perch was introduced to the waters of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, with the aim of replenishing over-fished waters. In the years since, the six-foot fish have proved a lucrative export for Tanzania, but a...

China’s Lust for Business Learning

Della Bradshaw August 1, 2005
The Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s deprived China’s prospective leaders of thorough training in business and management. Today, many CEOs or board members of major corporations head back to business school. While MBA programs in the US see a decline in application numbers, demand for similar programs in China is surging. As the government seeks to prevent the proliferation of third...

Citizens Fight Back with Cellphones and Blogs

Mark Glaser July 28, 2005
In the past decade, advances in technology and communications have changed the way people live, connecting the world as never before. One currently-unfolding change is the way viewers experience the news: According to journalist Mark Glaser, modern tools - weblogs, cellphone cameras (both still and video) - are facilitating a new brand of citizen journalism. In the aftermath of the July 7 and...

A Changed World for Korea’s Returnees

Kim Sun-jung July 27, 2005
It is common that people often leave their native country in search of opportunities elsewhere. Several decades ago, many young Koreans left their country and its dictatorial rule hoping to find better things in the U.S. Now, however, despite having found success in the U.S., a certain segment of these Korean ex-pats are returning to Korea, taking on a unique type of “Korean” identity as a...

Chinese Businessmen Learn Western Table Etiquette

Wieland Wagner July 26, 2005
As their economy grows and international trade increases, Chinese businessmen are facing a new challenge in an unlikely setting: dinner meetings. Western etiquette is a mystery to many of these rising business elites, accustomed to using cellphones during dinner and loudly slurping their noodles. Their rescuer is Andy Mannhart, a Swiss businessman who realized the demand for etiquette classes...

The Crossover Queen

July 25, 2005
Most Latino singers who succeed in the lucrative English-language pop market abandon their origins and cease to cater to the Latin marketplace. Shakira, however, recently broke the industry’s conventional wisdom by returning to the Spanish-language market after selling 13 million copies of her first English album – “Laundry Service” – in 2001. Exercising an unusual level of control over her own...

A Stir in Asia

Victor Mallet July 19, 2005
Mounting tensions between China, Japan, and South Korea have brought a wave of nationalism to East Asia over the past year. Taking an increasingly assertive stance on controversial disputes over territory, history, and nuclear weapons, politicians in these three nations have worked excessively hard to promote chauvinistic sentiments in public. Although passionate nationalism is not new in East...