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.

A Stir in Asia

Is rising nationalism in East Asia a threat to the region's stability?
Victor Mallet
July 19, 2005

How Africans See the Initiative to Help the Continent

Africans worry that aid from the G-8 will be channeled into their corrupt leaders' back accounts
Bashir Goth
July 8, 2005

Art from China Displays Dreams and Doubts

Can the impact of globalization be expressed artistically?
Caroline MacKinnon
June 23, 2005

The Zapatistas: The Second Stage

Could the Zapatistas be signalizing a change in anti-systemic movements around the world?
Immanuel Wallerstein
July 15, 2005

Invisible Earth

Google Earth shows in stark relief is how many parts of the world are still invisible to people in the United States
Annalee Newitz
August 31, 2005