In The News

A Nuclear Power Renaissance

Rüdiger Falksohn January 16, 2007
In an effort to prevent carbon-dioxide emissions and global warming, more nations pursue nuclear power, including some that lack ample water to cool the reactors or remote areas for storing the waste. The world now has 31 countries with 435 atomic reactors generating power, and at least 100 more reactors are planned, reports Rüdiger Falksohn in “Der Spiegel.” Falksohn also offers the reminder...

Shades of Cambodia

Harold Meyerson January 12, 2007
US President Bush announced publicly that the US will “seek out and destroy” any networks supplying weapons or training to “our enemies in Iraq. Bush’s stance defies the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan group of former high-level government officials who suggested that the US rely on diplomacy with Iraq’s neighbors rather than military solutions. In an essay for “...

Belarus Cuts Off Russian Oil to Europe

Fred Weir January 9, 2007
After Russia increased the price for oil flowing into Belarus, the former Soviet republic responded by imposing a tax on Russian oil shipped through a pipeline passing between its borders, destined for Europe. When Russia refused to pay the tax, Belarus siphoned off some oil for some compensation. Russia has since closed the pipeline, and nations like Germany and Poland face reduced oil supplies...

Cold Comfort in Climate Change

Peter Fisher January 8, 2007
Extreme weather patterns, hitting all parts of the globe, up-ends the untested proposition that the world has at least a decade to control or adapt to climate change. Scientists and corporate interests could both be wrong about global warming, and the phenomenon could hit much sooner, much harder, than anyone has yet predicted. Environmental analyst Peter Fisher reviews the growing body of...

A World Free of Nuclear Weapons

George P. Shultz January 8, 2007
The Cold War started and ended one era of Mutual Assured Nuclear Destruction. But today small states and non-state terrorist groups with nuclear ambitions pose an unprecedented threat to the world security. The process of denuclearization should start with current nuclear states destroying their arsenal and signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, urges a group of high-ranking US officials who...

White House, Joint Chiefs At Odds on Adding Troops

Robin Wright December 19, 2006
With violence and civil war escalating in Baghdad, the US Joint Chiefs of staff do not agree with a White House plan to send more troops into Iraq. Since the US invaded and overthrew tyrant Saddam Hussein in March 2003, Iraqi public services, political control and law enforcement have steadily deteriorated. Dedicated military troops can overthrow dictators, deliver bombs to pinpoint targets and...

Recalculating the Costs of Global Climate Change

Hal R. Varian December 18, 2006
Without immediate action to reduce global warming, the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change warns that governments around the world risk severe economic damage, predicting a 20 percent reduction in the global gross domestic product. Economists have scrutinized the 700-page report, and express some concerns. William D. Nordhaus of Yale questions Stern’s valuation of future generations...