In The News

Two Years Later, a Thousand Years Ago

Robert Wright September 11, 2003
Until September 11, some viewed the globalization of American values in terms of a manifest destiny. However, on 9/11 nineteen hijackers "turned the tools of globalization against the system" and blew that view to pieces. Two years later, skepticism about globalization's benefits still persists. For evidence, one need only notice that anti-American terror networks still abound,...

Reality TV Rivets Africa, to the Churches' Dismay

Marc Lacey September 4, 2003
“Big Brother”, the reality television show that gained success in the Western world, has found a new audience in Africa. The African version has become the most popular show on the continent, with 30 million Africans tuning in to watch 12 young professionals from a diverse group of countries live together as housemates, sharing disagreements and romantic entanglements. While some religious and...

Is Islam Compatible with Democracy and Modernity?

Asghar Ali Engineer September 4, 2003
Claims that Islam is incompatible with democracy and modernity are terribly off-base, says Asghar Ali Engineer, a scholar and author at the Institute of Islamic Studies in Mumbai. The observation that science and democracy are not found in contemporary Islamic countries is fair, he says, but the root causes lie in historical, economic, and political circumstances – not in Islam. Authoritarian...

Think Again: The United Nations

Madeleine K. Albright September 2, 2003
Is the United Nations really horribly bureaucratic, ineffective, undemocratic, and anti-American? Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright doesn't think so. In this Foreign Policy article, she argues that even after the recent US-led Iraq War, which failed to garner the support of the UN Security Council, the United Nations retains its position as the preeminent forum for...

Looking for Legitimacy in All the Wrong Places

Robert Kagan August 26, 2003
America's unparalleled - if benevolent - power makes even its closest allies nervous. As a result, many have begun to question the legitimacy of the superpower's actions, particularly after it went into Iraq without UN approval. Foreign policy expert Robert Kagan says, "A perceived pattern of illegitimate behavior can limit the cooperation other countries are willing to offer and...

Ending the Middle East's Cycle of Terror Requires Some Serious Soul-Searching

August 21, 2003
The international community vocally condemned the bombing of the UN headquarters in Iraq and reaffirmed its commitment to the pursuit of peace. However, though this reaction was thoroughly appropriate, it was also insufficient, the editorial in a Lebanese daily maintains. "The imperative before us all today is not only to reaffirm our iron-clad abhorrence of terror and our principled...

Timetabling Elections

Jihan El-Alaily August 12, 2003
The UN’s senior political advisor on Iraq, Ghassan Salame, is supportive of Iraq’s Interim Governing Council (IGC) and optimistic about US efforts to establish a democracy in the country. In an interview with the prominent Egyptian weekly, Al-Ahram, Salame admonishes Arab nations that criticize the US run interim government, saying they should not pass judgment without "first hand knowledge...