International relations

The true power of a passport

By Tatianna, July 20 2023

Most organizations, such as the widely recognized Henley Passport Index, believe the strongest passports are the ones that allow their citizens to enter more countries without a visa. They rank Singapore as the most powerful passport in 2023 because it provides easy access to 194 countries.

But is this the best way to decide how strong a passport is? Global Citizen Solutions has developed a more detailed but slightly different approach. The Global Passport Index analyzes how desirable a country passport is, considering the following:

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The Global Passport Index

How to measure the strongest passport in the world.

Economy

International relations

Commerce

Art crosses borders between people

By Di, August 29 2019

The California-based architects Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael have transformed a stretch of the border fence between Mexico and the U.S. into an international playground. The pair installed three hot pink seesaws between the slats of the fence where Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, abuts Sunland Park, New Mexico, allowing people on both sides of the increasingly militarized border to play together.

In an Instagram post, Rael said, “The wall became a literal fulcrum for U.S.-Mexico relations, and children and adults were connected in meaningful ways on both sides with the recognition that the actions that take place on one side have a direct consequence on the other side.” He added, “The joy that was shared this day on both sides is something that will stay with me forever.”

[See Ronald Rael's Instagram post here.]

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Two architects turned the U.S.-Mexico border fence into a playground with pink seesaws.

News

Arts

International relations

America

Relationships

Translation helps promote trade

By Di, January 21 2019

Steep tariffs, challenging geography and government subsidies come to mind when we think about the barriers to international trade. But there are lots of different languages in the world, and translation problems can slow things down, too.

Evidence from a new translation technology powered by artificial intelligence might be able to help clear those hurdles. In 2014, eBay mediated over $14 billion of international trade in more than 200 countries. That same year, the company introduced eBay Machine Translation, or eMT, an in-house machine learning system that translates between languages when users search or view listings on its website.

The system was about 7 percent more accurate than the previous translation service the company was using, and that led to a 17 to 20 percent increase in exports through the platform to Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.

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How machine learning can break down language and trade barriers

International relations