In The News

Brazil Child Sex Trade Raises Alarm as World Cup Nears

Super User June 5, 2014
Global sporting events attract tourists, prostitution and the child sex trade. The challenges are compounded for the World cup in Brazil. Brazil has enjoyed high economic growth in the past years, but its law enforcement system and social policy are less equipped to address child prostitution. “Brazilian society is often accused of sexualising children,” writes Wyre Davies for the BBC News. “The...

Europe Divided Over Immigration, Work Ethics

Pallavi Aiyar June 5, 2014
Immigration, transfer of new technologies and evolving work ethics have put entire industries in flux. This has stirred anti-immigration fervor in some communities as demonstrated by big gains of far-right parties in the European Parliament elections. Author Pallavi Aiyar analyzes the forces of globalization transforming the diamond-cutting industry in Antwerp. Once dominated by Jewish merchants...

The Legacy of Tiananmen Square

Johan Lagerkvist June 3, 2014
China’s communist leaders orchestrated a steady march towards great power status, accompanied by rewriting history and erasing tragic moments. Author Johan Lagerkvist reflects on the 25th anniversary of what has come to be known as Tiananmen Square massacre and points out how “the mindset behind the tragedy – unswerving support for China’s rise, with no toleration for criticism, questions or...

Status in the New Asia

Roger Cohen May 14, 2014
The desire to feel special is a universal quality among humans. People who no longer must worry about survival and security pursue status in varying ways including wealth, knowledge, purpose or notice. The notion that globalization equals homogenization is too simple, argues Roger Cohen, in his column for the New York Times. “‘Mass’ is becoming a problematic word in the global marketplace,” he...

Re-Imagining Kinship

Amrita Nandy May 13, 2014
Valuing biological parenthood over other forms and the shame over childlessness is worldwide and can be pernicious. “Defining human relatedness through genes and blood has been a predominant and often unquestioned notion across most cultures,” explains Amrita Nandy, a Fox International Fellow at Yale University and a doctoral candidate at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, India. As a...

Global Citizenship Catching Fancy of Super-Rich in India, China: Report

PTI May 6, 2014
The wealthiest in the world have the means and will to seek out new locations offering the most in comfort or tax relief. China and India together have more than 25,000 citizens with ultra high net worth, accounting for one of seven worldwide, according to an inaugural report on the super-wealthy from Wealth-X and UBS. “With each country already having large non-resident populations, the...

Jihad in Nigeria: Past Lives On

Lamin Sanneh April 29, 2014
Boko Haram, a Salafist extremist group continues to terrorize northern Nigeria in a quest for a strict Islamist state. A bomb killed 75 in Abuja, April 14, followed the next day by the kidnapping of more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok. The group’s Arabic name suggests intention to wage jihad. But violence and coercion belie the meaning of jihad – a struggle against unbelief, mainly within...