In The News

Genetic Analyses Suggest Bird Flu Virus is Evolving

Dennis Normile June 2, 2005
Genetic analyses of samples from avian influenza patients may suggest that new strains of the virus are developing in northern Vietnam. The samples, analyzed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were compared with samples taken earlier this year, and scientists found several differences. What do the changes mean? Without further testing, scientists are unsure. A worrisome...

Getting Greyer – and Poorer Too?

May 31, 2005
The world population is aging, due to the plummeting birthrates and increasing lifespans in both rich and poor countries – and retirement systems have been slow to adjust. In the US and Europe, pay-as-you-go pension plans are at risk, as the ratio of workers to retirees worsens: In Italy, for example, retirees will outnumber workers before 2030. And as the economy sours, private savings look...

"In Larger Freedom": Decision Time at the UN

Kofi Annan May 31, 2005
The wide range of threats afflicting different regions today complicates international collaboration. In an interconnected world, however, these threats are often more closely related than we realize. Extreme poverty and civil conflict in one country, for example, encourage terrorist groups to strike in another; the outbreak of disease in a region with poor health care may spread to wealthier...

US Shouldn't Fear Rise of China, India

Robert Samuelson May 26, 2005
The growing wave of statistics on dwindling US competitiveness in the global economy has spooked American workers and brought blame on the heads of US manufacturers. China, India, and other developing economic superpowers are gunning for the position once occupied by mighty America – or so the wisdom goes. But the verdict on China and India's imminent rise to power may not be so clear-cut,...

How to Jump-Start the WTO

Susan Ariel Aaronson May 26, 2005
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Organization. One of the tenets of the organization is to use trade as a means to achieve sustainable development for the world's emerging economies, but after several rounds of talks, the WTO seems stalled. As Susan Ariel Aaronson and Jamie Zimmerman write, there is yet hope for the organization and its goals. The key: Policymakers...

A Dangerous Mix of Politics and Trade

Philip Bowring May 23, 2005
China's surging textile exports have recently been subject to international scrutiny, with the United States re-imposing quotas. On Friday, Beijing voluntarily raised its textile export tariffs, a largely symbolic gesture designed to calm nerves overseas while asserting its own sovereignty. These examples of world trade tit-for-tat are not only short-sighted, writes commentator Philip...

Hacker Hunters

Brian Grow May 20, 2005
Computer technology and the interconnectivity of cyberspace have opened multiple avenues for global networking, while producing the underside of this phenomenon: a new wave of organized cybercrime. Criminals the world over are exploiting the ties of the internet to steal identities, forge documents, launder money, and sell stolen goods. As BusinessWeek reports, US and other governmental...