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

The Perils of Globeerization

by , | Oct 24, 2006

The world’s cup runneth over with living beer traditions. But this vast repository of cultural brewing capital is under attack by global corporations. The top five brewing companies, all of which are American- or European-owned, control 41% of the world market. Perversely, economists and politicians calculate the conquest by industrial breweries as economic growth while the value of small-scale traditional brewing goes uncounted. Much will be lost if this global “beerodiversity” is lost to the forces of corporate-led homogenization.

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Postcard From Singapore

Postcard From Singapore

by , | Oct 17, 2006

It’s 2 a.m. on a Saturday night. I’m in a Singapore police station. No, this story doesn’t involve alcohol. Fortunately neither the death penalty nor caning is likely. The story begins earlier on September 16, when I arrived in Singapore, the site of the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF, from neighboring Batam, […]

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World Bank Shuts Out Dissident Voices

by , | Oct 3, 2006

To the bankers and government officials who descended on the city state for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in September, Singapore may have looked like the perfect model of a globalized consumer society. Tellingly, for the first time, the annual meetings took place inside a giant shopping mall. Corporate logos dominated the venue, shoppers went happily about fulfilling their consumer duties, and the delegates were shrouded in a constant cloud of Muzak.

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Africa Falls Off the IMF Agenda (Again)

by , , | Sep 25, 2006

World leaders and celebrities declared 2005 to be the "year of Africa" with much fanfare. Beginning with the UK’s Commission on Africa report, and culminating in some supposed gains for the continent at the summit meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) wealthy countries, who were cajoled at several musical extravaganzas featuring the likes of U2, Madonna and Youssou N’Dour to do more to end global poverty, the year was billed as a "turning point" for Africa.

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The Crisis of Multilateralism

The Crisis of Multilateralism

by , | Sep 12, 2006

Already buffeted by institutional crisis and policy conflicts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are heading into their fall meeting—scheduled to begin September 13 in Singapore—with yet one more problem. Desperate to win credibility among civil society groups, the Bank and the Fund had given official accreditation to representatives of four civil society organizations. The Singapore government had a different idea. It banned the groups “for security reasons.” This commentator was among those specifically named and banned as a “security threat.”

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Congress Approves Flawed Oman Trade Pact

by , | Jul 27, 2006

One of the sub-plots in last year’s critically acclaimed film Syriana tells the story of two young Pakistani “guest workers” in an unnamed Persian Gulf nation who, after years of resentment over miserable living conditions, are taken in by a radical cleric and recruited to be suicide bombers. The film is an all too accurate portrayal of the exploitation of “guest workers” in many Gulf countries, and how these conditions can cause instability.

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Trading on Terror to Profit a Few

by | Jul 13, 2006

Even as Congress has finally begun a serious debate about whether U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq, another part of President Bush’s "war on terror" is advancing with far less public fanfare. Last month, the Senate Finance Committee approved the implementation of the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement and cleared the way for its consideration by Congress.

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