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

Gangs, Terrorists, and Trade

by , | Apr 12, 2007

While most Americans are familiar with al-Qaida, they’re less knowledgeable about a group spreading terror within U.S. inner cities: Mara Salvatrucha. Also known as MS-13, the Maras have 20,000 North American members. Mara cadres have set up in many American cities, creating the beginnings of a national command hierarchy, with some Maras on the East and West coast reporting directly to and paying gang dues to leaders in Central America. As these cadres grow and learn, they become more dangerous, and already they have begun to actively target law enforcement officers. Although the FBI and law enforcement agencies have tried to contain them using anti-racketeering statutes, which allow prosecutors to attack the structures of organized crime, the real problem lies beyond the border.

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A Cluster Bomb Treaty: Again, It’s the U.S. v. the World

by , , | Mar 23, 2007

On March 6, 2007, the U.S. Department of State released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006. This annual report to Congress details the human rights practices of foreign governments, from restrictions on free press in Iran, to extrajudicial killings in Pakistan, to spiraling violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Country Reports do not, however, “purport to assess any human rights implications of actions by the United States Government or its representatives.” If they did, the reports would expose the grave consequences of U.S. policies in a world where the use and sale of inaccurate and unreliable weapons tends to trump humanitarian concerns.

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Investors Aim to Profit from Zambia’s Poverty

by , | Feb 21, 2007

A British court recently ruled that Donegal International, a “vulture fund” that makes short and long-term investments for huge profits, has the right to profit from its purchase of millions of dollars worth of Zambia’s debt – acquired for a tiny fraction of its face value eight years ago. This bizarre legal and financial tangle is a clear example of global profiteering at its worst.

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Food and Trade: Dialogue

by , , | Feb 20, 2007

FPIF asked Anuradha Mittal of the Oakland Institute and Gawain Kripke of Oxfam whether international trade is good for agriculture or not. In her essay, Mittal argues that free trade is hazardous to farmers and farming. In his essay, Kripke sees a role for trade in sustainable development. While they agree on many points, here they also take issue with each other’s positions.

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Slavery Persists

by | Feb 1, 2007

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the 175th anniversary of the first meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society.

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World Bank OK With Blood For Oil

by | Jan 8, 2007

It has been a year since the horror of the bloodshed in Sudan’s Darfur region–with over 200,000 dead in three years–began leaking across the border into Chad. It has also been a year since a simmering conflict boiled over into a full-scale confrontation between World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Chadian President Idriss Deby. Are the two connected? In a word, yes. Here’s how.

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Labor Rights in China

by , , , | Dec 19, 2006

A major debate is underway in China on a proposed law that would grant new rights to Chinese workers. The debate has not been widely reported outside of China; until recently it has been almost entirely ignored by media in the United States. But when the Chinese government opened a 30-day public comment period this spring, it received nearly 200,000 comments, the majority from ordinary workers. But some comments also came from big U.S.- and European-based global corporations and their lobbying groups. These powerful forces squarely opposed the new law.

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