In The News

Anti-Americanism is One ‘Ism’ That Thrives

Roger Cohen November 28, 2005
The phenomenon of anti-Americanism is gathering steam around the world, to the point where it might be called the only current, pervasive, global ideology. Taking many forms, from radical Islamic activity to political satire, anti-Americanism is also directly linked to anti-globalization sentiment. US technology, and US firms that continually seek expanded markets are widely perceived as the...

Americans are Tuning Out the World

Alkman Granitsas November 24, 2005
As the world becomes accustomed to the American way of life, Americans are tuning out the rest of the world. US citizens have paid less and less attention to foreign affairs since the 1970s, writes journalist Alkman Granitsas. The number of university students studying foreign languages has declined, and fewer Americans travel overseas than their counterparts in other developed countries. News...

Sugar Powers a Revolution on Brazil’s Roads

Tom Phillips November 23, 2005
Brazil has found an alternative to oil that it is touting as the future of fuel. “Alcohol,” a bio-ethanol fuel made from sugar cane, is increasingly powering Brazilian automobiles, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks of an “energy revolution,” led by his country. Biodiesel, a renewable fuel, is seen as a way to make Brazil,and indeed the world, less dependent on oil. Its manufacture...

Shopkeeper Took on Coke - and Won

Jo Tuckman November 17, 2005
“I thought that they were going to be able to say to me, 'Look, ant, we stamped on you,” declared a triumphant Raquel Chavez, “I said I'd rather die with my dignity intact than be trampled on.” In a landmark case, the 49-year-old corner shop owner from a poor neighborhood of Mexico City brought charges against a Coca-Cola subsidiary and fifteen of its distributors in 2003. Following a...

Why American Free Trade Area Runs Aground Again?

Wu Hongying November 16, 2005
Viewed from Beijing, the failure of the Free Trade Area of the Americas reflects a rift between the US and the whole of Latin America. Wu Hongying writes that George Bush (following in his father's footsteps) sees the FTAA as a way of consolidating Washington's economy hegemony in the Americas, and says that the rest of the hemisphere will not stand for it. In particular, Wu argues...

Fox’s Performance Leaves Many Puzzled

Kelly Arthur Garrett November 15, 2005
Having failed to persuade other American leaders to move towards a pan-hemispheric free trade pact, Mexican President Vicente Fox now faces a political firestorm at home. Fox’s support for the Bush Administration’s free-trade stance has led to charges that he is an entreguista (a stooge or turncoat)—charges surely inflamed when Fox criticized the president of Argentina for “obeying Argentine...

Greenspan Says Globalization Driving U.S. Current Account Gap

Craig Torres November 14, 2005
The US current account deficit has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching an unprecedented 6.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan attempted to explain the widening of that gap yesterday, arguing that the gap reflects “a pronounced new phase of globalization.” Globalization, says Greenspan, has weakened “home bias”—the tendency to invest in one’s...