In The News

News of Globalization's Death Vastly Exaggerated

John Hancock, Robert Greenhill December 8, 2009
Despite the claims that the economic crisis would lead to increased protectionism and isolation, the opposite has occurred. There are three major reasons why globalization hasn’t suffered a major decline through this most recent crisis. First, international institutions have proved strong and effective: for example, the WTO's “trade courts” effectively settled disputes and the Bretton Woods...

Brazil: Dances with Dragon

Alexandre de Freitas Barbosa December 1, 2009
The Confucius Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, one of the few cosmopolitan cities that does not feature a Chinatown, recently celebrated its first anniversary. The presence of the Institute is not only a sign of China’s rising soft power, but also the many ways in which China and Brazil have become intertwined, according to professor Alexandre de Freitas Barbosa. The most important, of course, is...

How Do You Say "Pink Cadillac" in Mandarin?

Daniel Gross November 30, 2009
The American direct-sales firm Mary Kay is proving popular in China, as an aspirational and premium brand for China’s growing middle class. Mary Kay’s initial transition to China in the 1990s was difficult because the middle class was smaller then and direct-sales firms were viewed with suspicion. But as the Chinese economy developed, Mary Kay turned into a juggernaut with rapidly growing sales...

The Post-Berlin Aftermath

Jean-Pierre Lehmann November 9, 2009
While the world celebrates the anniversary of the destruction of the Berlin wall, there are still numerous walls all over the world that need to be torn down. Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann argues that the world is divided between a rich class of global elites scattered around the world’s major urban centers, and a class of the “globally disenfranchised.” The divide between the two is...

Globalization: Diseases Spreading From Humans to Animals, Study Finds

October 29, 2009
For the first time since animal domestication 10,000 years ago, a disease has spread from humans to animals. A new study from the University of Edinburgh shows how a version of the staph infection started in humans, spread to chickens, and then spread throughout the global poultry industry. Diseases are a major threat to the poultry industry. One of the study’s authors suggests that the global...

Globalization Boosts Europe’s Gangsters

Leigh Phillips October 28, 2009
Reduced trade barriers and ease of transportation brought about by globalization are also helping transnational criminal networks succeed in the European Union. A new report from the EU’s criminal intelligence agency says drug dealing, human trafficking, and trade in counterfeit luxury goods are on the rise. Criminal organizations are taking advantage of trade liberalization and low-cost airlines...

Globalization Putting A Premium On Overseas Studies

Joseph Yeh October 5, 2009
Most modern nations emphasize education as an engine of progress, and Taiwan is no exception – in fact, it is famous for the rigor of its system. Recently, however, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has encouraged students to leave their native classrooms for foreign schools. The Taiwanese government is expanding scholarship programs that support not just term-time study abroad, but internships and...