In The News

Final Text of Environment Deal Hammered Out

John Mason September 3, 2002
With the understanding that environmental issues are not containable to any one region, representatives from all over the world have gathered at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to finalize a global agreement of cooperation. Issues on the table include universal access to clean water, globalization of trade and finance, new targets on renewable energy production, protection of fish...

A Free World

Martin Wolf September 3, 2002
Martin Wolf believes that the current era of globalization is better positioned to maintain its momentum than was the globalization wave of the late 19th and early 20th century. The earlier period’s economic integration collapsed between 1914 and 1945 due to 4 factors: 1) the rise of militarism, imperialism, nationalism, communism, and fascism; 2) the rise of protectionism, particularly in the US...

Asian Tigers May Slay Hollywood Dragon

Tom Plate August 26, 2002
In recent years, film industries in India, China, and several other nations have begun to challenge Hollywood’s hegemonic rule of the global movie market. While the claim has often been that American films, like many other products of globalization, lead to cultural erosion in the rest of the world, the rise in popularity of foreign productions in the United States could symbolize globalization...

Bush Scales Back Steel Tariffs

Edmund L. Andrews August 23, 2002
American steel companies and their representatives in Congress called on President Bush to rescue their dying industry and increase steel tariffs this spring. He did so, infuriating the European Union, which then filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization, arguing that the U.S. was violating free trade rules. Bush has tried to satisfy both sides, discreetly excluding some steel...

Exxon Bigger than Pakistan: Survey

August 14, 2002
Some multi-national corporations are now larger economically and growing faster than many nations, a UN report says. The report was filed to answer the debate whether corporations were over-shadowing countries in economic stature. Among the corporations, Exxon Mobil Corp, an oil company, topped the list, and the next highest were automobile manufacturers. The rest of the list was a diverse group...

America Aloof

July 12, 2002
Since the fall of the Soviet Union as a counter superpower, the United States has found itself in the singular position of global super power – which has also come with its own contradictions. This op-ed article from the New York Times argues that while the Bush administration has been good at working with Russia on global terrorism, for example, it has not been as good when it comes to dealing...

U.S. Defends Its Farm Subsidies Against Rising Foreign Criticism

Elizabeth Becker June 27, 2002
Thanks to record high US farm subsidies, American farmers can produce cheap crops that drive drown prices in foreign markets. Even though the US maintains that its farm subsidies are within WTO limits, countries around the world believe that the subsidies are contributing to the underdevelopment of agriculture-dependent African and Latin American economies. The US contends that it is trade...