In The News

The Presidential Candidates Get Globalization All Wrong

Robert J. Samuelson July 18, 2016
Globalization has become the scapegoat for inequality, poor jobs, reduced wages and other economic problems – real and perceived – during the US presidential election. “What’s lost in the obsession with globalization is the fact that the American economy is driven mainly by domestic factors,” writes Robert Samuelson in a column for the Washington Post, adding that about 75 percent of the US...

Electorate Tremors: The Era of the Angry Voter Is Upon Us

Julia Amalia Heyer, Gordon Repinski, Mathieu von Rohr, Christoph Scheuermann and Holger Stark July 15, 2016
Voters are outraged about intense global competition that has put local factories and other workplaces on notice, reducing jobs and wages. Voters in democracies worry about losing control over communities, and they blame all facets of globalization. “The outrage is directed against elites in politics and in the business community, against the established political parties, against the ‘mainstream...

Black Lives Matter Is a Global Cause

Ishaan Tharoor July 13, 2016
The United States is in turmoil over gun rights, police shootings, and racial and political divides during a heated presidential campaign. Protesters associated with the Black Lives Matter movement gathered around the nation after police shootings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. During a protest in Dallas, a sniper targeted police, killing five officers and injuring 11 others, and...

The Impossibility of a “LatAmExit”

Patricio Navia July 8, 2016
“Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," wrote British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Patricio Navia, writing for Buenos Aires Herald, applies that sentiment to Brexit: “The only thing worse than risking the possibility that a member chooses to leave a regional integration initiative with more successes than failures, is that there is no such union,” he writes. “Latin...

Sweating in the Park or in the Factory: Beyoncé’s New Sports Wear Company and Respect for Human Rights

Aleydis Nissen July 6, 2016
Critics are harsh on celebrities that launch clothing lines sourced from factories with sweatshop conditions and underpaid workers. Beyoncé launched a sports clothing brand in a joint venture with Topshop. Media reports soon followed with interviews of workers in Sri Lanka complaining about long hours and low pay. “Whether the accusations are true or untrue, it may be argued that a major...

Brexit and the Future of US-UK Military Cooperation

Stephen Meyer June 19, 2016
Analysts have long debated the feasibility of the European Union moving beyond an economic partnership with tighter integration in other areas, including foreign policy. The United Kingdom’s decision to remain or leave the European Union would signal a direction for the nation’s future military relationships. “If the British vote down the Brexit referendum later next week and choose to remain in...

US Officials Say American Muslims Do Report Extremist Threats

Kristina Cooke and Joseph Ax June 16, 2016
The US has more than 3 million Muslims, about 1 percent of the population. A good relationship with the Muslim community is indispensable for law enforcement, notes James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation: “It’s at the heart of the FBI’s effectiveness to have good relationships with these folks.” His statement countered claims by US presidential candidate Donald Trump who, in...