In The News

Taking It to the Brink

Daniel Sneider March 1, 2007
The Six-Party agreement may require North Korea to shut and seal its nuclear facilities, but does not immediately require the nation to hand over nuclear weapons already made. “There is ample evidence that this agreement is yet another demonstration of North Korea's uniquely successful brand of negotiation via escalation,” writes Stanford researcher Daniel Sneider, “a use of brinkmanship...

New PA Government Creates a Real Problem for Israel

Avi Issacharoff February 16, 2007
Two rival factions of the Palestinian Authority have reached agreement on forming a coalition government that was opposed by the US. Today, it was announced that, under Saudi mediation, feuding parties Hamas and Fatah agreed to share power in a carefully brokered yet uneasily constituted unity government. The new government as a whole does not recognize Israel, but is weighted with...

Help Not Wanted

Moisés Naím February 15, 2007
China is stepping up in delivering foreign aid to impoverished African nations, but that is not good news for all Africans. “It is development assistance that is nondemocratic in origin and nontransparent in practice, and its effect is typically to stifle real progress while hurting ordinary citizens,” charges Moisés Naím, editor of “Foreign Policy” magazine. Some donors distribute billions, with...

Thai Move to Trim Drug Costs Highlights Growing Patent Rift

Nicholas Zamiska February 8, 2007
Thailand’s plan to lower the price of pharmaceuticals for its citizens by ignoring existing patents reignites the debate between health advocates and supporters of intellectual-property rights. At the center of the conflict is a dispute over what will save the most lives in the long term. By ignoring patents, the government can lower its drug costs and therefore provide twice as many people with...

America in Africa: Addressing a Mix of Islam and Oil

Ricardo Rene Laremont February 6, 2007
Amidst the lingering turbulence in the Middle East, US policymakers look to Africa as an alternative source of petroleum. Washington has launched military training operations in a number of African nations in an effort to combat Islamic terrorism and secure oil supplies. While there is no doubt that such military investments are necessary in the post-9/11 world, Ricardo Rene Laremont expresses...

Time for the US to Recognize Iraq's Humanitarian Crisis

Roberta Cohen January 11, 2007
Thousands of Iraqis, many moderates and professionals, flee the violence of their nation each month, leaving the armed militias and the poor behind, battling for territory that lacks energy, water and other essential supplies. Before the invasion, the Bush administration had assumed that Iraqis would welcome the removal of a dictator and pursue orderly government. But almost four years later, the...

Two “Little” Palestinian States?

Abdullah Iskandar December 24, 2006
Politics can be messy when a group of voters depend on outside aid. Palestinians elected members of Hamas during summer of 2006, causing alarm among Western nations that provided much aid to the struggling government. Western governments cut aid since the election and civil strife has increased. So the president of the country, a member of the Fatah and supported by the US, has called for early...