In The News

As Growth in US Slows, Wal-Mart Puts More Emphasis on Foreign Stores

Ylan Q. Mui June 10, 2010
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, pursues ambitious foreign expansion to make up for lagging sales in the United States. While no single country could replace the US in terms of consumer power, developing nations are poised for economic growth. Wal-Mart caters to newly-empowered consumers in emerging economies, a business model much like the firm’s “early strategy of building stores in a...

Ahmadinejad’s Sugar Daddy

Gal Luft June 10, 2010
The Brazilian government is developing closer ties to Iran, even as Iran faces stringent economic sanctions for its nuclear program. By exporting ethanol, President Lula da Silva’s government seeks to help Iran, a major oil exporter that lacks refinery capacity, lessen its dependence on foreign gasoline. Assisting Iran complicates Brazil's relationship with the United States, one of the...

Move Over US Soaps, Telenovelas Seduce the Globe

Susan Froetschel June 1, 2010
There was time when the US dominated daytime television programming with soap operas designed for housewives. Spanning decades, television producers and storylines kept up with social themes, like AIDS or racism, but did not adjust to changing US demographics or work patterns. Directors in Mexico, on the other hand, tweaked the US model early on, initially emphasizing Catholic values, but also...

BP Oil Spill: Louisianans Want More From Obama ... But More What?

Bill Sasser June 1, 2010
Offshore oil drilling has enriched communities along the Gulf of Mexico since the 1970s. An explosion ripped apart undersea pipes in April and has since left oil gushing and polluting waters and beaches that have fed those same communities with seafood for centuries. One representative called the seeping oil in gulf waters “a slow-motion tragedy,” anticipating decades of problems and cleanup....

Diplomatic Pressure Narrows Iran’s Nuclear Options

Leonard S. Spector May 25, 2010
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons allows non-nuclear nations to engage in scientific research on using nuclear power for peaceful purposes. States cannot engage in the transfer of nuclear material without safeguards, and non-nuclear states agree to accept safeguards and verification to prevent any diversion from peaceful uses toward weapon programs. The five-year NPT review...

The Web of Globalization

Nayan Chanda May 24, 2010
Can a country withdraw from globalization, or for that matter, give up democracy in order to benefit from global capital flow? In this column, YaleGlobal editor Nayan Chanda dissects the recent argument offered by Harvard economist Dani Rodrik, who suggests that “economic globalization, political democracy, and the nation-state are mutually irreconcilable.” Crises that disrupt global capital...

Emerging Green Technology Poses Threat of Trade Wars

Bruce Stokes May 14, 2010
Smart investors recognize that cheap oil won’t last forever and emerging green technologies could revolutionize everyday business as much as computers did. As with any new technology, nations compete to perfect and produce new products for the world, making lots of money along the way, explains international economics columnist Bruce Stokes. But Stokes warns that the global trading system lacks...