Globalization wields powerful influence over societies and cultures. Business travelers and tourists both observe and distribute new ideas. New ideas, interactions, foods and products are tried, then embraced or discarded. With the internet or satellite television, films, publications, photographs, news reports and cartoons can travel instantly, entertaining or angering audiences around the globe. With social media like Facebook or Twitter, individuals offer news and own instant pronouncements on trends. Whether slowly through immigration or immediately online, these connections bring about some convergence of norms on fashion to human rights while also provoking challenges from traditionalists. A global society has emerged, and it’s tightly linked.

World's Biggest Cities Merging Into 'Mega-Regions'

New mega-regions herald economic growth but may bring new social problems home
John Vidal
March 29, 2010

International Adoption: A Big Fix Brings Dramatic Decline

Do orphanages protect or hinder opportunities afforded by globalization?
Scott Baldauf, Sarah E. Burton, Ezra Fieser, Kathie Klarreich, Fred Weir
March 26, 2010

Canada's Veiled Immigration Problems

Sensational news obscures broader problems with multiculturalism
Sandro Contenta
March 24, 2010

Gendercide: The World Wide War on Baby Girls

Skewed sex ratios pose a problem across Asia
March 5, 2010

Is Arabic a Dying Language?

Arabic becomes foreign in places like Dubai that court global capital
Tom Hundley
February 26, 2010