In The News

Iraq War Ends, Not Europe's Acrimony with the US

Shada Islam April 15, 2003
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spain's Jose Maria Aznar have joined France and Germany in demanding that the United Nations play the central role in administering and rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq. Not only does the UN have the experience and the expertise to handle Iraq's reconstruction, it is the only body with a legal mandate to do so. UN oversight, EU leaders argue, will be...

French Islam Wins Officially Recognized Voice

Elaine Sciolino April 14, 2003
As part of a national project to create what Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called "an official Islam of France," delegates from mosques throughout the country voted for members of a new council that would officially represent France’s five million Muslims. Mr. Sarkozy said that organizing France's Muslims is the way to fight "the Islam of cellars and garages that has...

Nigeria at Crossroads as Dual Elections Approach

Michael Peel April 9, 2003
Though they have never had two successive elections without a military takeover, Nigerians hope the upcoming election will be peaceful. But with the election only days away, violence and corruption are still rampant. Peaceful elections are critical, for the country needs stability. Another rigged vote or military takeover would leave Nigerians without hope and the country in danger of becoming...

Betrayal on All Sides

John R. Bradley April 9, 2003
The US has proved what many already knew: few armies, let alone any in the Middle East, can withstand its power. But before the ticker tape parades and triumphal marches, the costs of US victory in terms of Arab self-esteem need to be weighed. Such a sound defeat of Arab soldiers could spell years of disenchantment for the Arab psyche. Furthermore, as the writer suggests, the ‘roadmap for peace’...

Yale Discusses the Implications of the Iraq War

April 4, 2003
Whether one is for or against the war in Iraq, one cannot underestimate the immense significance of the event to world affairs.. Hosted by the interdisciplinary program in Ethics, Politics and Economics at Yale University, six professors reflected on the war in Iraq, its buildup, and its aftermath. All felt that this would be a watershed event in world order and in the ways in which war is...

The Arabs Are Watching a Different War on TV

Mamoun Fandy March 31, 2003
Arab television coverage of the war on Iraq is not unlike many US stations: talk shows, press briefings, and video footage. The messages differ, however. On Arab TV, Americans are portrayed as aggressive and barbaric, while Arabs are heroic. Networks like Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV did not exist at the time of the 1991 Gulf War, whose coverage was dominated by the likes of CNN and the BBC....

Some of Hussein’s Arab Foes Admire His Fight

Neil MacFarquhar March 26, 2003
Saddam Hussein is not well liked in the Arab world. But the US-led war on Iraq is leading to more anti-American sentiment across the Middle East and galvanizing support for Iraqi resistance to US forces. Even the Arab intelligentsia, which has long hoped for the spread of democratic institutions in Middle Eastern countries, is applauding Saddam’s will to fight. "If Saddam's regime is...