In The News

Patent Your Heritage

Tina Rosenberg December 15, 2002
Online libraries in the making will soon document and patent the traditional and biological heritage that is being exploited by pharmaceutical companies in the industrialized world. India is leading the crusade against the misappropriation of their medicinal patrimony by shielding it instead of trying to take it back from foreigners who patented it. This online library will provide a translation...

The Pedal-Powered Internet

Clive Thompson December 15, 2002
For many people in the world, talk of globalization and new telecommunications technology is irrelevant; the world’s poorest don’t have enough to eat, let alone access to the Internet. But in Laos, an American nonprofit organization is working with Laotian farmers to set up a computer that they can use to check weather patterns and rice pricing. The farmers have no electricity or phone service...

Bush turns diplomatic in handling Korean crisis

Edward Epstein December 14, 2002
In a phone conversation on December 13 with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, President Bush said he won't allow "business as usual to continue," but promised to seek a diplomatic settlement to North Korea's decision to restart a nuclear program. The question of why the US is preparing to go to war against Iraq but seeking a diplomatic solution in North Korea underlines the...

'A Global Image on the Way Down'

Robert A. Levine December 13, 2002
Assessing the significance of the Pew Research Center survey of attitudes towards America, Robert Levine breaks the story into four questions: "Why don't they like us? Should we care? What can we do about it? What should we do about it?" Each of these questions needs to be carefully considered by all Americans, especially those in charge, he writes, but answers are not easy. On...

Microsoft to Share Windows Code with India

Pragati Verma December 13, 2002
Fear of losing a huge market and a software development market may be pushing Microsoft to do what it hates doing – share with select customers its closely guarded software secrets. The fact that the Indian government is seriously considering the wide use of networked computers for administration could open up a huge market. In Asia, Microsoft has shared the Windows source code with only select...

Lula: The End of Latin American Populism?

Ernesto Zedillo December 13, 2002
For nearly a century, populism has been the most pervasive and successful campaign strategy in Latin America; however, as a political and economic tactic once in office, it has consistently betrayed its followers. Quite frequently, populist regimes – democratic or authoritarian – deliver short-term prosperity followed by “painful financial collapse.” And with the Brazilian financial situation...

United States to North Korea: We Now Have a Pre-Condition

James A. Kelly December 12, 2002
Just a day before North Korea announced the resumption of the operation of a nuclear reactor closed since 1994, a top US official gave for the first time a personal account of his meeting with North Korean officials. He said that after reviewing the Clinton administration’s North Korea policy, the Bush administration decided in June 2001 to speak to the North Koreans "any time, any place,...