It is no shock that many people try desperately to reach the United States to attain a better quality of life for themselves and their families in their home countries. This documentary focuses on children who ride atop a train they call “The Beast” in order to reach their “Promised Land.” Some of the kids […]
American politicians rarely use the term “human rights” to discuss causes that they champion in the domestic arena; they are much more likely to use labels such as “civil rights” or to focus on an issue without classing it as a human rights concern. Senator Ted Kennedy, who lost his battle against brain cancer on […]
The U.S. Role blog generally examines U.S. actions in the international context and only rarely is our focus on domestic politics. The passing of Senator Edward Kennedy provides an opportunity to note how this important domestic event is reverberating in the world at large. This report from the Associated Press offers some insight into how […]
The French newspaper Le Monde casts doubts on forecasts that a wave of new "green jobs" is on the way, as claimed by both the French and U.S. governments. The left-of-center paper queries President Barack Obama’s pre-election pledge that he would rapidly create 5 million "green jobs" in the United States and French President Nicolas […]
This blog has previously drawn attention to the failure of the American media to verify claims of U.S. world superiority when a little checking would show such pretensions to be untrue, or at least doubtful. Now it is the turn of conservatives opposing Democratic health care reform proposals to benefit from the media’s blind eye, […]
Anti-Americanism may be resurfacing in Europe after a pause in rhetorical attacks on the United States after Barack Obama won the presidency in November 2008. “The highly vaunted transatlantic honeymoon may be coming to an end,” writes Soeren Kern, senior fellow for transatlantic relations at the Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group in […]
What is it about Denmark that seems to antagonize right-wing American commentators so much? Fox News pundits Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham are particularly prone to lashing out at Denmark, even though they seem to know virtually nothing about the country. In April, Ingraham suggested that President Barack Obama was probably closer to the president […]
Two distinguished Brits have delivered verdicts on the United States after spending time in the country – in one case 13 years, in the other quick visits to eight cities in two months. Needless to say, the verdict of the zip-through-the-cities traveler, Chris Patten, a former EU Commissioner who is Chancellor of Oxford University, is […]
Despite their traditional desire to score points off each other, the British and French are competing for the title of “worst tourists,” following publication of a study of touristic behavior by nationality conducted by the Expedia travel company. The survey of 4,500 hoteliers named the British as the worst tourists in Europe, but the French […]
Although G-8 leaders have warned that significant risks remain in the world economy, the U.S. media seem to be paying less attention to the continuing global crisis than their European counterparts. The likely reasons are that Europe is lagging behind the United States on the road to recovery and that Europeans are traditionally more attuned […]
The European media generally gave a cautious evaluation of President Barack Obama’s trip to Russia, concluding that the atmosphere between the two countries had improved but that concrete progress still remained to be achieved. Like the U.S. media, the Europeans pointed to the value of Russia’s agreement to allow the transit of U.S. military supplies […]
One of the greatest bones of contention about extracting fossil fuels — in the industrialized world anyway — is the damage it can or will do to the environment. The industries resist the idea. Do the costs of environmental protections cripple the production of newer, more unconventional fields, as the industry has long proclaimed? Apparently […]
I.C.C. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo argued this week that releasing former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice-President Jean Pierre Bemba before his trial at the Hague would be an “Error in Law“. In fact, Ocampo argued, the only significant change that had occurred since the last decision to keep Bemba in detention and now was the […]
On Tuesday, South Korea launched its first rocket but failed to put the satellite in its planned orbit. Russia helped build the rocket after the United States refused due to worries that a regional arms race could take off. “With all its neighbors – China, Japan and North Korea – pursuing space programs, South Korea […]
Three studies of rice genetics were released in major scientific journals this week, and this article from NPR examines how some scientists are harnessing this knowledge into efforts to develop new growing methods for rice plants. One study featured in the NPR piece describes the so-called “deep water” rice plants, which, scientists hope, will help […]