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.

Of Do-Gooder Celebrities and Stereotyped Bleak Image

Calcutta critics argue that visits by "bleeding heart" Westerners obscure the signs of progress
S. N. M. Abdi
September 16, 2004

Massacre Draws Self-Criticism in Muslim Press

In rare displays of candor, Arab commentators express disgust for fundamentalist violence
John Kifner
September 9, 2004

Wedding Vows Can Lock Danes Out of Their Homeland

Commuting couples in Denmark tell the story of the country’s unease about non-European immigrant population
Richard Bernstein
September 10, 2004

Rolling Stoned

Hollywood takes a leap forward with its first mainstream film featuring Asian American leads
Seema Sirohi
August 10, 2004

Mapuche Indians in Chile Struggle to Take Back Forests

Indigenous vs. state struggle is complicated by use of “terrorism”
Larry Rohter
August 11, 2004