In The News

The Caribbean Brain Drain: Nursing a Grievance

April 12, 2010
According to the World Bank, only one-quarter of nurses in the English-speaking Caribbean remain working in their countries. The rest leaves to work abroad, where working and living conditions are significantly better. The economic incentives of working abroad outweigh the challenges of staying. This is not a new phenomenon: it has been taking place for almost two centuries and is not confined to...

Brazil: Poster Boy of Globalization Charts Own Course

Kevin Casas-Zamora April 9, 2010
Leaving behind its history as an underdeveloped state dependent on US foreign aid and security umbrella, South America’s largest nation has ridden the wave of globalization to become a formidable economic and diplomatic power. In just two decades, Brazil cultivated a middle class by opening its economy and curbing inflation while installing social programs that radically reduced poverty. Timely...

Canada's Veiled Immigration Problems

Sandro Contenta March 24, 2010
As with France's decision to ban the niqab or Muslim headscarf, a recent row in Quebec over the wearing of the veil in a government French class has elicited strong reactions from the public. Despite being worn by only the smallest minority of Muslim women, the veil often represents for Westerners their uncertainty toward relations with the Islamic world. In Quebec, where identity is...

Thorns Amid Green Shoots

Nayan Chanda March 17, 2010
Politicians in the US are expressing concern that the stimulus package could be creating more jobs in other countries than it does at home. But that's the reality of an interconnected world. The stimulus package commits billions of dollars for green energy projects in an attempt to combat both global warming and create jobs in the US. But many projects require global sourcing due to the...

How to Read Brazil's Stance on Iran

Matias Spektor March 16, 2010
Brazil is reluctant to impose sanctions on Iran, grounding its opposition on three major issues. First, Brazil sees sanctions as a prelude to military intervention and points to Iraq as the last time a UN resolution about weapons ended up in conflict. Second, Brazil thinks sanctions will be counter-productive and only spur development of nuclear weapons, much as Brazil tried to do in the 1970s....

Beer Globalization in Latin America

Benjamin Dangl February 24, 2010
The global beer industry is experiencing a round of consolidation, including the recent takeover of Mexican brewer FEMSA by the Dutch Heineken. The growing concentration of brewing might in the hands of a few companies is a natural result of corporate globalization – today four companies control half of the world’s beer production globally. But this trend could also lead to “homogenization of...

The West Owes Haiti a Bail-Out

Gary Younge February 4, 2010
Last month's earthquake in Haiti may have been a natural disaster, but the devastation extends to the country's unfortunate position in the global political economy. Many Western experts say Haiti's underdevelopment stems from internal factors like government mismanagement and corruption. Yet Haiti's struggles are also due to centuries of destructive external pressures. For...