In The News

Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order

G. John Ikenberry March 2, 2004
From an unprecedented era of global power to a soon-to-be realized decline, five new books on American empire run the gamut of explaining and forecasting the long-term possibilities of American power. In this review for Foreign Affairs, G. John Ikenberry notes where each author gets his analysis correct, but he also suggests what they fail to see. All describe America as an empire, but that...

A New Consensus on Free Trade

Gene Sperling March 1, 2004
During the Clinton presidency, “globalization with a human face” was the motto that underlined US trade policy. Today, under pressure from the outsourcing debate, both the Bush administration and the Democratic candidates are pushing to close the doors on open markets. Gene Sperling, director of economic programs at the Center for American Progress and national economic adviser during the Clinton...

Use Outsourcing to Spur Change in India

Bruce Stokes February 28, 2004
A provision in the new US Omnibus Appropriations bill prohibits the offshore outsourcing of some federal government contract work. And now Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry has suggested requiring all call centers, in the US and abroad, to inform consumers where the operators are located when providing customer service. Calling these actions and policies "largely the product...

Making Profits Cannot Be an End in Itself

Lim Boon Heng February 27, 2004
In this Straits Times article, Singapore's union chief Lim Boon Heng reflects on the current crisis in the global corporate sector, and ponders about an alternative to the prevalent model of cut-throat capitalism. Instead of attacking the basic tenet of capitalism - profit making - he acknowledges that profit is important to society because “Without businesses, there will be no commerce,...

Outsourcing Debate - Part I

Rafiq Dossani February 25, 2004
The steady outflow of jobs, especially white-collar ones from the US is emerging as a major issue in the US. In part one of our three-part series on the outsourcing debate two scholars explain the reasons. In recent years, US manufacturing jobs have declined as corporations looked for cheap labor overseas. Still, it was long assumed that service work would provide continued growth for the US and...

A Global Generation Gap

February 24, 2004
According to the latest Pew survey on global attitudes, generational differences fuel much of the current social and political tension over globalization, nationalism, and immigration. Though strong majorities worldwide view increased global interconnectedness in a positive light, the concept is far more popular among young people in most regions. This greater reluctance among the world’s older...

A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All

February 24, 2004
A new report issued by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization acknowledges that globalization's "potential for good is immense," but points to record unemployment levels as a sign that globalization has not met the majority of men and women's "simple and legitimate aspirations for decent jobs and a better future for their children." The...