In The News

Slumdog Paradox

Sadanand Dhume February 4, 2009
“Slumdog Millionaire” is a rag-to-riches love story that has captured the world’s imagination. An orphan growing up in the squalor of Mumbai’s poorest neighborhoods overcomes overwhelming odds that life throws at him, learning in the process much that prepares him to compete in a popular game show and reunite with childhood sweetheart. Even as international audiences cheer the orphan’s goal – not...

Obama Is the Key Example of Globalization

Nury Vittachi January 29, 2009
Some customs, from security procedures at airports to requirements for suits and ties at restaurants, divide people in unnecessary ways. But the election of US President Barack Obama – "a Chicago man, born in Hawaii, with an African father, an Indonesian stepfather and a mother from English-Irish stock with Native American elements" – stands as a reminder that a mixture of people and...

"No Country, No Matter How Powerful…Can Control the Forces of Globalization on Its Own"

Kofi A. Annan January 27, 2009
Economic crisis will leave no part of the globe untouched, yet it also offers widespread opportunity for citizens to assess priorities. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges nations to select priorities that reshape and improve the world for the common good: "For the roots of this crisis go beyond an abject failure of financial governance and neglect of warnings of the risks being run...

The End of a Gilded Age

Harold James January 6, 2009
Waves of globalization are characterized by intense innovation, along with increased wealth, productivity and consumption, notes Princeton professor Harold James in an opinion essay for the Baltimore Examiner. Agriculture gave way to manufacturing, manufacturing gave way to services, and services gave way to online interactions, and James notes that “In each case, a dramatic crisis created the...

An Alliance of Values

Tony Blair December 24, 2008
"To work effectively, globalization needs values like trust, confidence, openness and justice," explains former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in an opinion essay for the International Herald Tribune. It’s one of ten lessons Blair relayed as a visiting professor at Yale University, citing the need to "find a way to reconcile faith and globalization." If religion acts as a...

Fierce Democratic Struggle Shapes Globalization

Salil Tripathi November 19, 2008
The world watches in amazement as India, with about one-sixth of the world's population and great diversity, chalks up impressive economic growth. Large-scale changes as India develops, though, are not wrought without friction. In recent decades an entrenched bias has favored city growth, argues journalist Salil Tripathi, while two-thirds of the country's billion-plus people remain...

A Need to Master the Tyranny of the Urgent

Strobe Talbott November 7, 2008
The number of issues awaiting President-elect Barack Obama and his administration lengthens as storm clouds of recession form worldwide. Obama and his team have stressed that quick fixes won't magically erase the many financial problems. Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of state under President Clinton, would agree with the Obama camp's cautionary tone, while also stressing that...