In The News

War on Terror's Collateral Damage

Ahmed Rashid November 21, 2003
Despite President Bush's call for democracy in the Middle East, his administration has strengthened military rulers by ignoring the domestic transgressions of those who cooperate in the terror fight, argues journalist and author Ahmed Rashid. Pakistan, where General Pervez Musharraf has held power since a 1999 coup, is a key US ally in the War on Terror. Inside the country, tensions between...

Worthy Goal

Eric Farnsworth November 18, 2003
“The negotiations over a Free Trade Area of the Americas are not ultimately about agriculture subsidies, orange juice, or even competing claims of jobs won or lost,” argues Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas. “Rather, they are about building a democratic hemisphere consistent with strategic interests.” He explains that direct foreign investment drives economic growth...

US Can't Rely Solely on Might

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. November 17, 2003
The privatization of war by transnational terrorists is the gravest threat of the twenty-first century, argues Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Nye believes that insofar as the source of threat is changing from large conventional states to rogue states and terrorist networks, the US should rely more on its soft power than its military might. "Soft...

Appreciating Resistance

Gihan Shahine November 14, 2003
As Iraqi resistance to US occupation becomes more intense and more deadly, people in Egypt are applauding the attempts of their fellow Arabs to oust the American invaders, says this report in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly. People have also become increasingly angry towards America's support of Israel. "Killing an American soldier has become synonymous with killing an Israeli soldier,...

What Does America Mean by Democracy in Iraq?

Salamander Davoudi November 7, 2003
The Financial Times review on Arab press commentary for the past week highlights some of the most hotly debated issues on security in the Middle East. An article in Al-Hayat says that the United States should not draft a constitution for Iraq, but rather that such a job should be done by an elected Iraqi legislative body; moving west, another of its editorials argues that "Israel has...

President Bush Discusses Freedom in Iraq and Middle East

George W. Bush November 6, 2003
President Bush challenged Middle Eastern countries – allies and enemies alike – to embrace democracy and recognize the fall of Saddam Hussein as "a watershed event in the global democratic revolution." In a speech given in honor of the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, Bush aligned his administration's intentions in Iraq with efforts to establish democracy...

US Situation in Iraq and Afghanistan

John McCain November 5, 2003
In an address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Senator John McCain gives his view on the progress in Iraq. McCain asserts that US troop deployment is too low to ensure proper security and the decision to hand over security to Iraqis with minimal training is foolish. He claims that in continuing to mention exit strategy the US administration hinders its cause by sending the wrong...