In The News

Malaysia Outlaws 'Insulting' Brad Pitt Ads

Claire Cozens December 17, 2002
While beauty standards across the globe may be converging to a blonde, blue-eyed ideal, one Asian government is saying 'Not on our turf!' The globalization of the media has allowed some American and European celebrities to enjoy international face recognition, and big-name celebrities can make big money pushing products in Asia that would never get approval from their agents and image...

Patent Your Heritage

Tina Rosenberg December 15, 2002
Online libraries in the making will soon document and patent the traditional and biological heritage that is being exploited by pharmaceutical companies in the industrialized world. India is leading the crusade against the misappropriation of their medicinal patrimony by shielding it instead of trying to take it back from foreigners who patented it. This online library will provide a translation...

'A Global Image on the Way Down'

Robert A. Levine December 13, 2002
Assessing the significance of the Pew Research Center survey of attitudes towards America, Robert Levine breaks the story into four questions: "Why don't they like us? Should we care? What can we do about it? What should we do about it?" Each of these questions needs to be carefully considered by all Americans, especially those in charge, he writes, but answers are not easy. On...

When Chinese Martial Arts Flies Through the Global Box Office

Christina Klein December 9, 2002
Taiwan-born director Ang Lee won accolades for turning a Chinese novel into the fantastical, money-making movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. With undeniably Chinese martial arts action and a romantic story the Brothers Grimm would have praised, Lee's blockbuster appealed to audiences the world over. But with so many different cultural elements in the film, should we think of the movie...

Pew Survey Finds America’s Global Stature Diminished

December 4, 2002
The globalization of media and the information technology revolution have made American actions visible to the entire world. In a wide-sweeping survey of 38,000 people in 44 countries – a feat accomplished in large part thanks to globalization – the Pew Foundation finds a gloomy image of the US overseas. From the state of American democracy to America's unilateralist stance in the...

Islam, Disney Style

Amina Elbendary November 28, 2002
UK-produced Muhammad (Pbuh) The Last Prophet, a story that traces the life of Mohammad and the birth and rise of Islam, arrives in theaters after overcoming impediments over Islamic law's ban on depicting the Prophet and other notable figures. The cartoon tells the story of Muhammad through the voice of Malek, the father of a little girl who, eager to sell her sheep's wool in the market...

Beyond salvation

Gamal Nkrumah November 28, 2002
Nigeria hosted the Miss World pageant hoping this would help clear its anti-secular image. But the plan backfired when Muslim fundamentalists in the country’s north responded violently to an article in a daily which they thought insulted the Prophet Mohamed. Instead of an international reputation as a democratic and secular country, Nigeria is now beset with more internal strife. –YaleGlobal.