In The News

A Nation of Immigrants Clashes Over the Future

Georg Mascolo April 12, 2006
In 2005, the US arrested 1.2 million people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border in Arizona’s Arivaca Valley. About half that number were successful journeying through the treacherous desert, encouraged by words on the Statue of Liberty that welcome immigrants from the world over – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.” The US estimates that 11 million...

Xenophobia’s Threat to Prosperity

Charles Prince April 5, 2006
In the wake of the abortive acquisition of terminal operations at US ports by Dubai Ports World, Congress is considering more than thirty proposals to tighten the rules governing foreign investment in the US. Some of these proposals, writes Charles Prince, CEO of Citigroup, Inc., would spell disaster for the US economy – choking off the foreign investment that now fuels American economic growth...

On a Tiny Island, Catchy Web Name Sparks a Battle

Christopher Rhoads April 5, 2006
Domain names ending in dot.nu – “nu” meaning “now” in Swedish – sell like hot cakes in Sweden. The rights to operate dot-nu domain names, accorded to the US-based entrepreneur Bill Semich in the late 1990s, have earned him financial success. Semich has applied some of his newfound profits to the impoverished South Pacific island of Niue, via the provision of free wireless internet to the citizens...

Hypocritical Arab Generosity on Darfur

Julie Flint April 3, 2006
At the Arab League summit in Khartoum, leaders offered to fund the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur, pledging $150 million starting on October 1 of 2006. The only problem is that the AU’s mandate is due to expire on September 30. Meanwhile the greatest need is now. The League’s decision amounts to prescribing medicine after the patient expires. The author suggests that Arab...

In Khartoum, the Refrain of Arab Failure

Rami G. Khouri March 31, 2006
The Arab League summit in Khartoum, poorly attended by Arab leaders, coincided with the revolt of several hundred workers in Dubai – and the two events expose problems in the Arab world. The workers, primarily from South Asia for construction projects, protested poor working and living conditions, low and delayed pay, as well as a general lack of basic rights. The leaders in Khartoum and...

Bush, India, and Two Degrees of Separation

Siddharth Varadarajan March 29, 2006
Remnants of the old non-proliferation movement continue to haunt the agreement that would allow the US to sell nuclear technology to India, in that the US has not revealed plans to treat India as an equal nuclear partner. The US has multiple goals for such an agreement, including reducing India’s consumption of oil and increasing India’s dependence on the US. Passionate debate in India,...

Shifting Toward the Center

Oscar Arias March 28, 2006
After Bolivia elected Evo Morales as president in December 2005, analysts suggested that Latin America had “tilted left.” But Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace laureate, describes Latin American countries as “strikingly moderate,” a distinct change from the 1980s. He notes that Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and even Venezuela are embracing free-trade agreements that...