In The News

Business is Blooming

Peter Willems December 8, 2004
A recent United Nations report shows that Afghanistan's poppy production is reaching worrisome new heights. As newly-inaugurated president Hamid Karzai steps into the spotlight, the problems of opium growth continue to increase. The effort to stop the drug trade has been hampered by local infighting, governmental corruption, and an unsuccessful attempt to wean farmers off the profitable, but...

Arab Internet Users Are Caught in a Terrible Web

William Fisher December 7, 2004
In many Arab countries, internet users today are facing tight restrictions on free speech. A human rights group recently charged that certain Arab governments, such as Iran, Syria, and Tunisia, employ not just traditional methods of limiting freedom of expression - censorship and confiscation - but also technologies such as electronic filtering programs to control access to what they consider...

North Koreans Eager to Cash in on Tourism

Joo Sang Min December 7, 2004
At the tourist resort Mount Kumgang near the South and North Korean border, South Koreans' consumerism is slowly changing their northern neighbors. North Korean military forces are a common sight at the resort, but here, their main job is to blaze roads for tour buses, and create photo-ops for South Korean tourists. Increasingly, North Koreans are finding it hard to resist the lure of hard...

Re-Popularizing Peace

December 3, 2004
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss recent developments in Palestine and Syria – a sign that Egypt is determined once again to play an important role in facilitating Middle East peace. While Syria has reportedly expressed a desire to re-open peace talks, Israel may not want to negotiate at a time when Syria faces strong...

On AIDS, Avoid Acting Too Late

Solomon Sacco December 1, 2004
This World AIDS Day brings with it greatly advanced knowledge about combating the deadly illness, but also concerns for regions where the risk is silently increasing. Many observers fear that, much like sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s, Middle East and North African nations will not confront the threat of AIDS until it is too late. Although infection rates in the Middle East are much lower than in...

Subcontinent Raises Its Voice

David Crystal November 30, 2004
Ten years ago, the United States was the country with the largest English-speaking population. Today, India has taken over that status. With roughly a third of its population – or more than 300 million – possessing English language capability, India has more people speaking the language than the US and UK combined. Indian English, however, is not entirely the same as British or American English,...

The NU Convention and Nonconventional Islam

Rizqon Khamami November 24, 2004
Throughout Indonesian history, Islam emerged with a unique eclecticism differing from that of Arab lands. In recent years, however, political Islam has been on the march, with violent consequences for the world's most populous Muslim country. Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nehdlatul Ulama (NU), now prepares for a crucial meeting regarding the interpretation of shariah,...