In The News

Unification Can Only Follow Democratization

Orville Schell March 19, 2004
Taiwan may have been its own country for seven out of the last eleven decades and claim that it has the right to decide for itself its sovereign status, but that does not prevent China from pressing for unification. . In recent years, China and Taiwan have come closer due to increased economic interactions, but why does China still point 500 missiles on the island? A large part of the answer can...

Why Not a World Poll Before the US Election?

Yoichi Funabashi March 17, 2004
Americans are not alone in caring about who wins this November's US presidential election. The world at large is also interested – and rightfully so, given America's current role as the dominant international player. How crucial global problems are resolved depends on the direction America's president wants to go, notes Yoichi Funabashi, a columnist and chief diplomatic...

Taiwan's Challenge to China and the World - Part II

Linda Jakobson March 15, 2004
Beijing claims that 'the Taiwan issue' is an internal political affair, but many in Taiwan beg to differ. In the second installment of a two-part series, Linda Jakobson, co-author of the International Crisis Group's recent Taiwan Strait IV report, suggests a possible way out of the present imbroglio. On March 20, Taiwanese will take to the polls to vote for the next president and...

Saudi Women Get the Vote

Brian Whitaker March 10, 2004
For the first time, municipal elections are set to take place in Saudi Arabia. The elections alone stand as an important sign of Saudi Arabia's increasing democratization, but even more surprisingly, women will be able vote in these elections. Women's activities are highly restricted in the Saudi kingdom, but in recent years many have managed to gain a foothold in business affairs –...

Fischer Sees Turkey's Membership in EU as Part of War on Terror

Sam Hapgood March 5, 2004
As the EU gets ready to welcome 10 new members on May 1, Germany's foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, is pushing for Turkey to join the group sooner rather than later. "We have a new task that will shape this century: We have to give globalization political contours," he said. Bringing Turkey into the group, he says, will help deter Muslim terrorists. The German Finance Ministry...

Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order

G. John Ikenberry March 2, 2004
From an unprecedented era of global power to a soon-to-be realized decline, five new books on American empire run the gamut of explaining and forecasting the long-term possibilities of American power. In this review for Foreign Affairs, G. John Ikenberry notes where each author gets his analysis correct, but he also suggests what they fail to see. All describe America as an empire, but that...

A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All

February 24, 2004
A new report issued by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization acknowledges that globalization's "potential for good is immense," but points to record unemployment levels as a sign that globalization has not met the majority of men and women's "simple and legitimate aspirations for decent jobs and a better future for their children." The...