In The News

Beijing Olympics: Shadow Over a Coming-Out Party

Paul Mooney February 20, 2008
China pursued its bid for the 2008 Olympics to burnish its image as a rising world power, also framing the games as an opportunity to improve human rights and integrate with the rest of the world. The approach of the Summer Games, however, has instead served to showcase China’s poor record on human rights. China has launched a new crackdown on domestic activists in an effort to prevent...

EU Powers to Recognize Kosovan Statehood

Mark Tran February 18, 2008
After declaring its independence, Kosovo did not have to wait long for supporters and opponents to step forward. Britain, France and Germany announced they would recognize the new state, and US President George Bush expressed unofficial enthusiasm. But states with troublesome separatist movements of their own, like Spain and Cyprus, are less enthusiastic. Both Serbia and Kosovo would like to join...

Clinton and Obama Emphasize Economic Themes

John M. Broder February 18, 2008
Candidates for US president Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are neck in neck, battling to win the Democratic nomination. To attract votes, both have adopted a populist stance and make plenty of economic promises to workers. Many border on assistance, including programs to help homeowners facing foreclosure or workers pay for health care. Growing income disparity tempts voters and candidates to...

Will Ballots Win Over Bullets in Pakistan?

Paula R. Newberg February 15, 2008
The world holds low expectations for fair elections in Pakistan. Tightening military rule and removing civil liberties in recent years have not restored stability in the terrorism-plagued country that is also a nuclear power. After a turbulent 2007 – including bitter conflict between courts and the current president and assassination of a leading candidate, Benazir Bhutto – uncertainty prevails...

Less Toxic Relations Between Japan and China

David Pilling February 8, 2008
Any incident can trigger old animosities between China and Japan, wartime opponents early in the previous century. The latest incident is 10 Japanese people falling ill after eating pesticide-tainted gyoza, or dumplings, made in China. Despite such controversies, both Japanese and Chinese leaders have made “huge strides” in improving relations during recent months, writes David Pilling for the...

Seeking a Path in Democracy’s Dead End

C.J. Chivers February 4, 2008
While sending US troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration also urged democracy throughout Central Asia, including the former satellites of the Soviet Union. Citizens in Georgia and Ukraine responded, but elsewhere dictators cling to power, relying on violence, corruption and charges of “terrorism” against opponents. The administration was forced to recalibrate its goals, reports C....

2008: The Demise of Neoliberal Globalization

Immanuel Wallerstein February 4, 2008
Political philosophers have long debated about whether governments, corporations or other entities are most efficient in delivering services for groups of citizens or world markets. Neoliberal globalization is an old idea for achieving efficiency that gained prominence in the 1980s, according to sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, and implies that governments should allow corporations to cross...