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.

Chinese Authorities Offer Money for Mixed Marriages

The bonuses, 135 percent of average annual rural incomes, are intended to ease unrest
Jamil Anderlini
September 4, 2014

Thailand’s Ultra-Monarchists Export Vigilante Justice

Harsh lèse-majesté laws do not prevent king from being targeted
Michael Peel
September 3, 2014

The Science Behind ISIS Savagery: 5 Ways Humans Become Hardwired for Violence

Religion, group-think, revenge spur vicious behavior
Ian Robertson
August 20, 2014

How America’s Police Became an Army: The 1033 Program

Military chickens come home to roost
Taylor Wofford
August 15, 2014

Brutality and “the Beast”: Why Child Migration to US Is Slowing Down

US gives aid to Mexico, to increase speed of trains and invest in military hardware
Gabriel Stargardter
August 13, 2014