Scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the U.S. a more responsible global partner.
Labor, Trade, & Finance

The Esther Strategy

by , | Oct 9, 2007

The Judeo-Christian tradition is filled with stories of individuals who have gained access to political leaders. Their advice to the powerful often secures the protection and wellbeing of marginalized people. Take the example of Queen Esther. She used her access to King Ahasuerus to protect the Jews from destruction. But Esther did not act alone. At every step of the way she relied on the advice of her cousin Mordecai who sat at the King’s gate protesting the policies of the King’s highest governor, Haman.

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Globalization: What Is To Be Done?

by , | Oct 4, 2007

The race for the presidency has crystallized the debate about what to do about "globalization," a
short-hand way of describing the increasing tendency of firms to locate production abroad, often
for the purpose of exporting goods back to the United States rather than producing for the local
market. Firms not only have moved production abroad but also in collective bargaining negotiations
often use the threat of moving as leverage to obtain concessions from workers. While not a complete
explanation for the relative stagnation in industrial wages and growing income inequality in the
United States (and elsewhere in the world), it is perhaps the most visible, easily understandable,
and therefore the most inflammable aspect of globalization for American workers.

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Divestment: Ending the Genocide in Darfur

Divestment: Ending the Genocide in Darfur

by , | Sep 26, 2007

When confronted by the crime of genocide, human rights activists do not typically dash to state capitols. Since 1787, foreign policy has remained outside states’ bailiwick, with Congress and the President serving as more appropriate venues for foreign policymaking. So when the United States declared the atrocities unfolding in Sudan’s vast Darfur region to constitute genocide in 2004, activists rightly responded by flooding Congressional mailboxes and crowding the Washington Mall, demanding an end to the violence.

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The Post-Washington Dissensus

The Post-Washington Dissensus

by , | Sep 21, 2007

Development circles were not shocked last year when two studies detailed how the World Bank’s research unit had been systematically manipulating data to show that neoliberal market reforms were promoting growth and reducing poverty in developing countries. They merely saw these devastating findings, one by American University Professor Robin Broad, the other by Princeton University […]

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Executive Pay Debate Raging in Europe and the United States

by , | Aug 28, 2007

European business leaders have traditionally taken home far less compensation than their American counterparts. But European executive compensation has been rising, and these pay increases have citizens in European nations deeply concerned. In fact, public outrage on both sides of the Atlantic has contributed to an unprecedented political debate over what to do about excessive executive pay.

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Remittances: For Love and Money

by , | Aug 14, 2007

Yania Marcelino was a six-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic when her mother left their family to find work in another country. She went first to Puerto Rico, then later to New York City to work as a seamstress. There she began sending money back to Marcelino and her three siblings and four cousins. The children often had to travel 15 or 20 kilometers to get to the wire transfer agency, and sometimes the money sent was lost.

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Zoellicks World Bank Coronation

by , | Jun 26, 2007

It’s all but official. Paul Wolfowitz, the neocon who helped give us the Iraq War only to be sidelined to the World Bank where he ended his presidency mired in a corruption scandal that led to his forced resignation, will officially step down on June 30. The next day, on July 1, he will be replaced by Robert Zoellick, another neocon who advocated invading Iraq in the 1990s. This is a man who ran amok in his role as U.S. Trade Representative.

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Debate on Microcredit

by , , | Jun 21, 2007

Foreign Policy In Focus asked the Microcredit Summit Campaign’s Sam Daley-Harris to respond to the question of whether microcredit is the solution to global poverty or whether its benefits have been oversold. Robert Pollin, who also provided this FPIF analysis of microcredit’s plusses and minuses, responds to Daley-Harris below. Finally, Felicia Montgomery also of the Microcredit Summit Campaign responds to Pollin.

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