In The News

All Cultures Are Not Equal

David Brooks August 11, 2005
"The gospel of multiculturalism preaches that all groups and cultures are equally wonderful," writes David Brooks – and then proceeds to refute this notion in this commentary. Rather, Brooks suggests that globalization, rather than giving rise to a unified world culture, has actually further segmented the global population. Due to increased ease of communication and travel, he writes...

Iran Vows New Steps to Enrich Uranium

Thomas Fuller August 10, 2005
Iran has announced its intention to break the remaining seals on uranium-converting equipment at the Isfahan nuclear facility. The decision comes shortly after its government rejected a package of incentives offered by Europe to curtail nuclear activity. In the developing world, there appears to be more sympathy for Iran's cause. On Tuesday, led by Malaysia, developing countries of the...

Terrorists Turn to the Web as Base of Operations

Steven Coll August 8, 2005
When Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida operatives were hiding out in Afghanistan in the 1990s, they were one of the first to adapt to the new technologies of globalization, communicating via commercial satellite telephones and producing video propaganda with hand-held cameras. Today, nearly four years after the 9/11 attacks, al-Qaida has become the first guerilla movement in history to "...

Is Nuclear Diplomacy with the Mullahs Possible?

August 8, 2005
After calling an agreement drafted by European officials "unacceptable," Iran has announced its plans to resume uranium enrichment activities. Despite Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, the general consensus is that Iran is building a bomb. If the nation succeeds in developing nuclear arms, the power structure in the Middle East would be...

Containing a Pandemic

August 5, 2005
For quite some time, virologists have been issuing warnings about the possibility of an outbreak of pandemic influenza. Now they are focused on the strain of avian influenza (bird flu) currently endemic in Asia and are investigating measures to prevent widespread deaths, should the virus mutate and attain human-to-human transmission capability. Two papers recently published in Science and...

A New Vocabulary for Trade

Jagdish Bhagwati August 4, 2005
Globalization is a complex phenomenon, which New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has famously explained with the metaphor of a "flat world." According to fellow globalization expert Jagdish Bhagwati, however, "The notion of a flat world is as wrong metaphorically now as it was when Copernicus showed it to be literally wrong." Bhagwati charges that Friedman's word...

Globalization Is an Anomaly and Its Time is Running Out

James Howard Kunstler August 4, 2005
While American intellectuals continue to portray globalization as a new permanent fixture of the world, writes James Howard Kunstler, the global trade fair is nearing its end. Kunstler opines that the "cheerleaders of globalization" fail to recognize that today's global economic relations are based on relative world peace and reliable supplies of cheap energy. He points to...