In The News

The West Likes Democracy for Some Arabs, But Not Others

Dilip Hiro April 22, 2011
The US has reasons for hurrying some Arab authoritarian leaders to the exit and not others. Syria and Bahrain are cases in point, explains author Dilip Hiro. Citizens of both nations resist leaders from minority sects and ongoing discrimination. Syria is 68 percent Sunni, run by a president, an Alawi, which is a Shia sub-sect; Bahrain is 70 percent Shia with a Sunni king. Syria has long defied...

How the US Intends to End War with Taliban

Ahmed Rashid April 21, 2011
A spring offensive from the Taliban has flared up in Afghanistan. More than 40 nations have troops there at a cost of $2 billon per week, reports Ahmed Rashid for the Financial Times. The US and NATO are intent on withdrawing by 2014, but a clean end requires more diplomacy than military force. “[T]he US now accepts – and is working on – a Taliban request to open a Taliban political office, most...

Guide to Reform the Middle East? Try East Asia

Humphrey Hawksley April 20, 2011
Opposition movements in the Middle East and North Africa enjoyed early successes in Tunisia and Egypt, yet the struggle proves hard in Syria, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen. The outcomes – new democracies or brutal crackdowns – could alter the region’s relationships in unimaginable ways. East Asia is a model of what can go wrong then right: US failure to deliver democracy to Vietnam four decades ago...

How a Persian Gulf Backwater Became an International Power Broker

Sonia Verma April 20, 2011
Qatar, an independent state since 1971 and long overshadowed by richer neighbors, raises its profile by taking advantage of global trends. The country of 1.4 million – 200,000 of whom are Qatari – arms Libyan rebels, hosts US Central Command headquarters, shelters Saddam Hussein’s widow, and serves as the base for the Al Jazeera global news network. Huge natural gas reserves enriched the country...

The War on Soft Power

Joseph S. Nye Jr. April 19, 2011
In a global age, national power rests less on issuing orders from top of a hierarchy than on being the center of a network. Countries depend on many tools besides military might – skilled diplomats, aid programs, educational and cultural exchanges and so on. Confronting a ballooning deficit, the US has to tackle budget cuts: A deal recently negotiated by Congress makes deep cuts in so-called soft...

NATO's Last Mission?

Fred Kaplan April 19, 2011
With disagreement erupting among its 28 member states, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation in Libya strains the alliance started in 1949 for mutual defense against external attack. Similar disagreements emerged with interventions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. For each military operation, allies impose conditions on their involvement. The US, once critical of such conditions, now leaves...

Rebels Hijack Gaddafi's Phone Network

Margaret Coker, Charles Levinson April 18, 2011
As protests surge, autocratic governments immediately shut down communications. The story of how skilled expatriates moved in to restore phone and internet services for Libya reads like a high-tech spy thriller. A Libyan-American telecom executive, 31 and raised in Alabama, organized a team of techie friends to assist in reopening communications for rebel forces. “[T]he network has enabled rebel...