In The News

Countries Globalized But Education Lagging

Dominic Sachsenmaier June 18, 2013
Schools at all levels, particularly universities, could do more to prepare students for a global society by adding globalization to curricula – not just facts about other parts of the globe, but languages, analysis and connections. The framework of entire disciplines has not kept pace with a fast-changing global economy and culture, contends Dominic Sachsenmaier, history professor and author....

Autumn of the Patriarchs

June 14, 2013
Shifting population patterns are expected in emerging developing countries. In Latin America the population is quickly moving from high birth rates and early mortality to low birth rates and longer life expectancies. “In Latin America the changes have happened in half that time and all at once, resulting in faster, less predictable social change,” reports the Economist. Brazil and Chile’s...

Be Nice to China: Hollywood Risks "Artistic Surrender" in Effort to Please

Rory Carroll May 31, 2013
China sets a quota on foreign films that can be shown in the country, 34 each year, and filmmakers jockey to win a place in the world’s second largest market for films. China is expected to surpass the United States as world’s biggest film market within a decade. “The only way to circumvent the quota is to turn a film into a Chinese co-production, meaning Chinese elements in the story, production...

Tunisia Turns Up Heat on the Salafis

Roula Khalaf May 30, 2013
Salafi Muslims promote a fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran, insisting on original Arabic translations and rejecting moderate Muslims as infidels. Freedoms won in Tunisia after the 2011 Arab Spring revolution allowed Salafis to evangelize. Now the government is cracking down on the controlling ways of Ansar al-Sharia. “As elsewhere in the region, not least in Egypt, formal politics in...

Limits of Saudi Oil Power

Fahad Nazer May 30, 2013
Saudi Arabia is facing multiple fronts for potential destabilization. A modern society and wealthy citizenry have depended on millions of skilled and unskilled foreign workers to build infrastructure and keep homes, banks and, restaurants running smoothly. Oil money is also behind tremendous investment in education and other social benefits. Yet fossil fuels are limited. Competition is keen as...

University Logos Become Weapons in Debate Over Textile Factory Working Conditions

Howard Schneider May 29, 2013
School pride is no longer limited to donning clothes with university names, colors and mascots – and students increasingly check labels to ensure that their clothing is not made in a land where worker abuse is rampant. Yet global supply chains can quickly regroup, relocate and rename. “A single garment might combine parts, labor, fabric and other elements from several countries, complicating...

Syria Opposition Seeks to Unify

Khaled Yacoub Oweis May 27, 2013
The US and Russia are trying to schedule peace talks and end war in Syria, amid “new reports of atrocities, accusations of chemical weapons were used and the rise of al Qaeda–linked fighters among rebels,” writes Khaled Yacoub Oweis for Reuters. Washington threatens to provide more support for the rebels, but also wants to review a list of opposition leaders to ensure that moderates are included...