In The News

Big Powers Jockey for Oil in Central Asia

Fred Weir April 9, 2007
The US, the European Union, India, China and Russia compete for influence in Central Asia – a place crucial because of its oil and natural gas reserves, with vital pipelines crisscrossing the region. Currently, Central Asian states largely rely on Russian infrastructure to deliver and sell their oil. Analysts in the West question reliability of Russian oil supplies because of the monopolistic...

Time for Détente With Iran

Ray Takeyh April 3, 2007
After decades of pursuing a policy of containment and preaching virulent anti-communism, Richard Nixon traveled to China in 1972, marking a new era of negotiation, compromise and cooperation that became known as “détente.” China, a rising East Asian power, assisted the US in exiting the unpopular Vietnam War, tackling more serious threats and bringing stability to the region; the US could gain...

The Poisonous Legacy of the Iraq War – Part II

Husain Haqqani March 19, 2007
The term "jihad" is often used to describe the violent struggle against those outside the community of Islamic believers. Yet jihad is also the struggle within each Muslim's heart, an attempt to abide by the teachings of the Koran. This article is the second of a two-part series that reflects on the impact of the Iraq war and attitudes in the Muslim world. Author and former...

The Poisonous Legacy of the Iraq War – Part I

Fawaz A. Gerges March 15, 2007
Four years ago, the US invaded Iraq and expected to install a democratic government. This two-part series examines how US military invention has influenced Muslim hearts and minds around the globe. In the first article, author and Middle East analyst Fawaz Gerges describes how the goals of jihadist fighters have evolved. Before the 1990s, such radical groups targeted Middle Eastern governments...

Pakistan: The Eye of a Coming Storm?

Paula R. Newberg February 28, 2007
Pakistan's foreign policy, constructed for short-term survival, is as fragile as a deck of cards. Bordering China, India, Afghanistan and Iran, the nation with nuclear weapons and a literacy rate that approaches 50 percent, has been led by General Pervez Musharraf since 1999 when he assumed power in a coup d'état. After the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf became both strategic partner in the...

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...

Turning Colder

February 13, 2007
Over the past year, concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin is returning his country to authoritarianism have arisen amidst a series of events that would suit a novel by John LeCarre. With internal enemies of the regime arrested or murdered, by way of an obscure, radioactive poison or by a fleeing gunman in the night, Russia’s government has became more secretive and more insistent on...