In The News

Species Red List Makes Bleak Reading

George Wright November 18, 2003
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) published its latest "red list" of endangered species, expanding the list by 15 percent from last year's. The list now includes 12,259 species classified as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. These species are distributed around the world, but Indonesia, India, Brazil, China and Peru are among the countries with the highest number...

Europeans Need Clearer Vision to Revive WTO Talks

Shada Islam November 14, 2003
The US and the European Union helped derail negotiations at the Cancun meeting of the World Trade Organization by refusing to end subsidies to their farmers. Although European leaders talk of building a multi-polar new world order, says Shada Islam, their stand at the WTO betrays a reluctance to deal with the developing world as equals. The deal the European Union struck with Washington is...

Will Global Warming Trigger a New Ice Age?

Bill McGuire November 13, 2003
Scientists have long warned that temperatures will soar and people swelter as rising levels of greenhouse gases lead to global warming. However, new evidence suggests that these conclusions were somewhat off-base. Instead of sweating, people around the world may soon be shivering as high temperatures hasten the coming of the next ice age. Currently, huge volumes of fresh water are being poured...

The World Must Keep its Nerve over Kyoto

Michael Grubb November 13, 2003
The global response to climate change has reached a crossroads now that the US has rejected the Kyoto Protocol. Instead of capping emissions, President Bush has decided in favor of investing billions in research on technologies such as carbon sequestration, which involves storing carbon dioxide emissions. Creating environment-friendly technologies is admittedly integral to halting climate...

Antiglobalism's Jewish Problem

Mark Strauss November 12, 2003
Anti-Semitism is again on the rise, says Mark Strauss, a senior editor for Foreign Policy. Globalization is being pinned on the Jews – the traditional 'villain' of capitalism – and thus the Jewish people are being blamed for all perceived negative effects of increased market integration, Strauss writes. In the Middle East especially, where economies are stagnant everywhere but Israel,...

The New Leviathans

Nayan Chanda November 12, 2003
One of the major agents of globalization - the multinational corporation - has been alternately portrayed as global villain and global economic booster. In "Global Inc.", a new "atlas of the multinational corporation" by Medard Gabel and Henry Bruner, companies with an extensive global reach are subjected to a more objective critical eye. In this review article, Nayan Chanda...

Security and Prosperity in the 21st Century

William J. Clinton November 10, 2003
Former US President Bill Clinton believes that an interdependent world is unsustainable because of its instability. To solve this latent instability Clinton proposes three goals. First, the world needs to create a global community with shared responsibilities, benefits, and values. Second, to implement this global community, nations must share the burden of international security and build...