Excerpts

For more than a century, the Korean Peninsula has been the focus of major powers, most recently through the six-power talks, with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States striving to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear-weapons program. Yoichi Funabashi, editor in chief of the Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo, explores the historical and security concerns of the six nations since 2002 and provides insights into future diplomacy and policymaking for the region.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to haunt the Middle East, and peace remains an elusive goal for world leaders. Journalist Mark Matthews details and analyzes the many lost opportunities for resolving the conflict in recent years, starting with George Bush’s first visit to Israel as governor of Texas and potential presidential candidate, as described in this excerpt. Matthews’ thorough reporting reveals how people affected by such conflict depend on their leaders to seek out connections, overlook cultural differences and...

A milestone in the clash between Europe’s secularism and Islamic values came on November 2, 2004, when a 26-year-old Dutchman, of Morroccan heritage killed filmmaker Theo van Gogh. The young man opposed van Gogh’s film about Somali-born Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a vocal critic of Islam. Europe is a bastion for free speech and individual rights, but a small number of Muslim immigrants from neighboring nations oppose such freedoms. The groups with opposing values continue to offend each other.

With the growing economic power and desires of developing nations like India and China, rampant consumerism and growth is not sustainable for the long term. Citizens of populous developing nations want to live like the citizens of the US and Europe. Ramachandra Guha, a pioneer in the field of environmental history, analyzes the environmental movements in India and the United States, with all their respective politics, chauvinism and aspirations. He repeats Gandhi’s observation - “The world has enough for everybody’s need, but...