In The News

Not Educating the Masses

January 6, 2014
The Chinese government has announced plans to reform its university entrance exam known as gaokao, allowing more tries for the English portion and accounting for extracurricular activities. Critics suggest such changes could decrease the numbers of university students from poor rural areas, according to the Economist. “China’s elite universities already resemble their Western counterparts in one...

Japan Minister Follows Abe to War Shrine, Pouring Salt on Wound for China

January 3, 2014
Nations don’t like to be told what to do. But by now, Japanese politicians should understand that visits to the Yasukuni shrine aggravate China and other neighbors that were occupied during World War II. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the internal affairs minister each made separate visits to the shrine in recent days. The last visit by a Japanese prime minister was in 2006. “Beijing and...

The Great War’s Ominous Echoes

Margaret MacMillan December 30, 2013
More than 10 million soldiers and many civilians died in the First World War, 1914-1918. An assassination, incidental in the century’s overall history, triggered the massive war spurred by national rivalries and reckless arms race. “The approaching centenary should make us reflect anew on our vulnerability to human error, sudden catastrophes, and sheer accident,” writes author Margaret MacMillan...

Rethinking Foreign Aid

Paul Farmer December 25, 2013
Aid is in desperate need, and distribution could be more efficient to produce sustainable results. Writing for Foreign Affairs, Paul Farmer, professor at Harvard University, points out that “80 percent of aid from major bilateral and multilateral donors to fragile countries still bypasses the systems of local public institutions” but improving lives depends on long-term improvements to public...

A Torrent of Hyperbole

Nayan Chanda December 23, 2013
Those arrested or detained in the United States, women and men of all ages, charged with small crimes or large, are routinely searched for their own protection and the protection of others held. Two contrasting stories have emerged about treatment of domestic help by an Indian diplomat charged with lying on a visa application. Politics and media as entertainment have combined to elicit extreme...

Unpredictable Pope Challenges Journalists

Fiona Ehlers December 20, 2013
The world has more than 1.2 billion Catholics, and Radio Vatican translates the sermons and every other comment of Pope Francis into 44 languages. The pope adds to translation challenges with “free, spontaneous speech,” audience exchanges, opinions and jokes, reports Fiona Ehlers for Spiegel Online. One priest described the pope’s style as “down-to-earth” and noted, “’Sometimes it really makes us...

Delhi Should Avoid Lasting Damages to India-US Ties

Rajesh Rajagopalan December 18, 2013
A junior diplomat stationed in New York City was charged by US marshals for underpaying a maid. Standard procedure for such detainees includes a strip search, and India is furious. The United States responds that junior diplomats do not have immunity; Indian leaders contend that the arrest could have been handled more sensitively. The United States and India should not allow the incident to ruin...