In The News

All That Gas

Alam Srinivas April 25, 2005
Across the world – in countries like China, the United States, and the European Union – reliance on foreign oil imports is increasing. At the same time, most experts expect the world's oil supply to decrease sometime in the near future, with supply peaking anywhere from 2007 to 2037. Brazil is the largest and lowest cost producer of ethanol, a more environmentally friendly substitute to...

Susilo Wants Asia, Africa to Lead Energy Revolution

Leony Aurora April 19, 2005
Speaking before the upcoming Asian-African Summit, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on leaders from the two continents to initiate increased use of renewable energy. High investment costs and limited incentives make renewable energy a tough sell across the region. Yet as conventional energy resources decline, nations are increasingly engaged in conflict over resource-rich...

Crouching Tiger, Swimming Dragon

Nayan Chanda April 11, 2005
Nearly six hundred years after Chinese ships visited the Persian Gulf, the ground is being laid again for a permanent Chinese presence in the area through which some 40 percent of the world's oil resources travel. As Nayan Chanda writes, Chinese diplomatic visit to Pakistan last week resulted in an agreement to expand a Chinese-built port there, leaving US, Japanese, and Indian governments...

Le Maître du Kirghizistan est renversé, mais la politique du juste milieu pourra-t-elle tenir ?

Paula R. Newberg March 28, 2005

Kyrgyz Ruler Is Toppled, but Can the Center Hold?

Paula R. Newberg March 28, 2005
The flight of the president of Kyrgyzstan, facing angry demonstrators, has suddenly thrust the small Central Asian republic into the international limelight. But as regional expert Paula R. Newberg notes, the overthrow of President Askar Akaev was a long time coming, and may have serious repercussions in the neighborhood. As Newberg warns, Kyrgyzstan's more conservative authoritarian...

For Tehran, Nuclear Program Is a Matter of National Pride

George Perkovich March 21, 2005
The development of nuclear technologies has become a matter of nationalistic pride for Iranians from all walks of life. The government of Iran has had a hand in cultivating this trend, but the mobilization of public sentiment is mostly due to the popular perception of the United States as an antagonist, writes George Perkovich. By calling Iran dangerous and casting it in the role of an aggressor...

Bush's Conversion on the Road to Tehran

Philip H. Gordon March 18, 2005
These days, the competition for the title of "World's Most Pressing Nuclear Threat" seems tight. Weeks ago, North Korea stole the show with its admission of nuclear weapons possession; but in the battle for headline primacy, at least, the Iran issue has emerged as this week's winner. The most recent development involves the United States: On March 11, the Bush...