In The News

Privatization vs. Democracy

Salah Hemeid October 13, 2003
The chief US Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, recently announced that Iraq's state-owned industries will be sold off to private investors in an effort to boost the country's struggling economy. The new policy also allows for 100 percent foreign ownership of all industries except for oil, which will remain under government control for the time being. Iraqis view their oil reserves as...

Iranian Lawyer Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Christopher Brown-Humes October 10, 2003
Amidst international tension over Iran's nuclear program and debates on the role of Islamic extremists in promoting international terrorism, the Nobel Committee chose an Iranian lawyer as the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Citing Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, for her brave advocacy of human rights and democracy, the Committee said it hoped her example would inspire democratic...

Sportswear Boycott Over Burma Links

Vivek Chaudhary October 6, 2003
A British-based campaign for democracy in Burma urged soccer fans to boycott goods produced by Kappa, a popular sportswear supplier with stores all over Europe. The campaign claims that Kappa indirectly supports the brutal Burma military regime by continuing to stock its stores with products made in the country. Although Kappa says it has already severed its links to Burmese manufacturers, goods...

Politics in Command

Jonathan Schell September 29, 2003
In war, true victory means the achievement of an express political aim. Although Saddam Hussein has been toppled, the political objective of the American war in Iraq appears far from fulfilled. An author and journalist who has written extensively about war and peace, Jonathan Schell, says what should worry Washington more than the daily attacks on US troops is its failure to win the hearts and...

Too Soft, Too Open, Too Democratic?

September 26, 2003
Voting in the World Bank and IMF is far from democratic – votes are determined by the amount each state contributes to the coffers, leaving poorer countries with next to no say in decisions. This undemocratic system is in line with the original intent of the Bank and IMF: they were to be the lenders, representing creditor nations. No 'bank' allows the borrower to determine policy....

Russia Must Not Slip into Autocracy

James Woolsey September 24, 2003
Russia is officially a democratic country, but recent political shifts have made it seem otherwise. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to crack down on corruption, but the latest prosecution efforts have been tainted with corruption themselves. Freedom of the press is largely nonexistent, and journalists who criticize human rights violations in Chechnya have been persecuted. And the...

Our War With France

Thomas L. Friedman September 18, 2003
"France is not just our annoying ally," asserts Thomas Friedman in this opinion piece for The New York Times. "France is becoming our enemy." By advocating a hasty transfer of power to a symbolic Iraqi sovereignty, France seems bent on US failure in Iraq. If the French government truly wished to see the US succeed in Iraq, Friedman argues, it would use its influence in the...