In The News

In Africa, Pricking the West's Conscience

Somini Sengupta June 2, 2003
A French-led peacekeeping force of 1,400 is expected to arrive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo later this week. The recent surge of violence in the Congo has raised fears that, unless action is taken immediately, another peacekeeping fiasco like the one in Rwanda might take place. The violence that plagues the DRC has made the delivery of aid (in food and medicine) very difficult, making...

Crimes Under Flags of Convenience

Michael Richardson May 19, 2003
The Sept. 11 attacks on the US may have awakened the world to the dangers of a passenger airliner being turned into a missile, but in malevolent hands a much more traditional mode of transport - a ship on the oceans - could be turned into dangerous tool. On the high seas, ships registered under flags of cash-strapped nations operate with very little oversight or regulation. As Singapore-based...

Blast Rocks Jakarta's Airport

April 28, 2003
It does not appear that international efforts to prevent terrorist attacks have had much effect in Southeast Asia. A recent bombing of the International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia follows several prior attacks on high profile public places, including an attack on a United Nations office in Jakarta. Although security has been tightened around such public venues, the perception remains that no...

Human Trafficking Casts Shadow on Globalization

Michele A. Clark April 23, 2003
Women and children have been among the biggest losers in this era of globalization, if we consider the massive increase in human trafficking in recent years. Cheated or sold into a life of sexual slavery or indentured servitude, the victims of human trafficking and their stories reveal the dark underside of increased international mobility. With the demise of socialist states, in particular,...

SAS nabs N Korea drug ship

Ian Gerard April 21, 2003
Braving rough seas and bodily harm, yesterday members of Australia's special forces boarded a North Korean ship suspected of smuggling over 50 kg of heroin. Although the ship's flag showed it to be registered in Tuvalu, the first land-based arrests in the case included a Singaporean and two Malaysians, with the crew of the smuggling ship believed to be from North Korea. International...

Black Money Flowing Back to India

V. K. Raghunathan April 16, 2003
Since September 11 the US has cracked down on bank accounts that might be funding terrorists. It has even asked countries with secrecy laws to disclose information about account holders to help in its fight. An unintended consequence of this policy is that many Indians who have illegally stashed money outside of the country now fear discovery and prosecution, and have begun to bring their money...

Syria Harbors Iraqis and Grants Transit to Hezbollah, U.S. Asserts

Don Van Natta Jr. April 15, 2003
US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has accused Syria of allowing members of Saddam Hussein’s family and former leadership circle to cross the border into Syria, and members of Hezbollah to cross the other way into Iraq. Both Syria and Hezbollah deny the accusations, but the US is applying pressure because it believes Hezbollah has plans to attack American interests in the region, and...