In The News

Roll Over, Godzilla: Korea Rules

Norimitsu Onishi June 28, 2005
Celebrities, television shows, movies, music and other cultural products from South Korea are exploding in popularity across East Asia. As a result, the country has witnessed an upsurge in tourism and trade, as well as a cachet of being “cool.” This newfound soft power stems from past South Korean government decisions to nurture and protect its own cultural industries against infiltration from...

Art from China Displays Dreams and Doubts

Caroline MacKinnon June 23, 2005
Chinese identity has undergone major changes in the past several decades as the country has altered its social, cultural and economic landscape. Recently, seventeen Chinese artists exhibited work dedicated to exploring the theme of Chinese identity at the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City. Photographer Xing Danwen showed work that portrayed the similarities in urban...

American Character Gets Mixed Reviews

June 23, 2005
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, America's worldwide reputation continues to suffer. The Pew Global Attitudes Project, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Senator John C. Danforth, surveyed nearly 17,000 countries to assess their opinions about their own nations and the rest of the world. The 2005 survey revealed that, although US...

A Muslim Woman, a Story of Sex

Alan Riding June 22, 2005
The Almond, the first novel of North African writer Nedjma, has attracted media and critical attention ever since its publication in France last year. The novel is a study of sex – a topic very much off-limits to authors in traditional Arab societies, let alone the women who live within the conservative-leaning social structures. Nedjma, herself a female and a product of Muslim society, has...

Arabs in Foreign Lands

Moisés Naím June 20, 2005
"Cultural determinists may want to revise their theories of Arab backwardness," states Foreign Policy Editor-in-Chief Moisés Naím. The average Arab American has a higher income and is more likely to own a home than the average US citizen. The relative success of Arab immigrants in the US raises questions regarding the notion that cultural factors are at the root of the poverty and...

Fallout from the War on Terror – Part I

Mark Sidel June 14, 2005
Four years after the 9/11 attacks, protecting America from an invisible threat continues to shape domestic and foreign policy. The complex effects of the war on terror extend far beyond security – and the unintended results are not all positive. In this two-part series, YaleGlobal explores how US anti-terrorism policy is changing America's position in the world. In part one, Mark Sidel...

New History Text Turns a Page in East Asia Ties

Chua Chin Hon June 10, 2005
A newly published history textbook marks an effort to harmonize relations between Japan, China, and South Korea. Recent months saw diplomatic and political tensions between Japan and its two neighbors after the government published a history textbook which failed to make light of Japanese wartime atrocities against China and South Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi added salt to...