In The News

China to Block UN Report on North Korean Nuclear Capability

February 21, 2011
A Chinese expert was part of a team that prepared a report for the UN Security Council on North Korea violating sanctions, according to a Reuters article, yet China plans to block the report. The team expressed concerns that the impoverished nation may transfer technology – obtained illegally from Pakistan – to other secretive regimes. “North Korea almost certainly has several more undisclosed...

Power of New Nationalism

Nayan Chanda February 21, 2011
Emphasizing invented enemies, tyrannical leaders argue that only they can protect their nation, sometimes with brutal methods. Yet such tactics weaken the sense of nationhood when citizens have to cower in fear, doubting their own worth. Informed by satellite television or social media sites and emboldened by new perspectives and exchanges, youths in growing numbers challenge the entrenched...

Eighteen Days That Shook the Middle East – Part II

Rami G. Khouri February 16, 2011
Governments that avoid rigid ideological rules for their citizens and allow new ideas to flourish can wield great influence. This two-part YaleGlobal series suggests that Egypt, the largest of Arab nations, transformed by the uprising, will in turn transform governments and politics throughout the Middle East. By embarking on a wave of democratization, Egypt could reclaim its historic role as the...

Eighteen Days That Shook the Middle East – Part I

Dilip Hiro February 14, 2011
Protesters in Tunisia and Egypt accomplished much – shaking off fears of security forces, speaking out against corrupt systems and toppling authoritarian leaders. But revolution is far from complete, reminds author Dilip Hiro. By definition, representative government for Egypt requires inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood. That group – started in 1928 by a teacher and a few workers in British...

China Cocks Its Ear to Arab Freedom Cry

Peter Hartcher February 14, 2011
Measured by market-exchange rates, China’s economy is about 40 percent the size of the US economy. Measured by purchasing power, China is the world’s largest economy, writes Peter Hartcher for the Sydney Morning Herald. The nation’s products, services and labor are comparably inexpensive, often due to great sacrifices of the Chinese people. The government uses an iron hand to keep opposition...

Analysis: Fallout From Egypt Being Felt in Region

Brian Murphy February 11, 2011
Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has resigned after 18 days of mounting nonviolent protests, followed by mass labor strikes, stalling an economy that benefited but only a few. The protests – persistent, self-policed, nonviolent, largely leaderless – orchestrated a homegrown revolution. The Egyptian military, trained and partly funded by the US, has taken control of the government; Egyptians...

Foreign Islamists Get Little Support in Egypt

Farnaz Fassihi, Matt Bradley February 10, 2011
Iranian and Hezbollah clerics have tried to co-opt the Egyptian opposition movement, suggesting that their brand of Islamic fundamentalism and 1979 revolution were influences. But the suggestion is outlandish, considering Iran’s brutal crackdown on its own young protesters seeking political and economic reforms more recently in 2009. The Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni clerics swiftly rejected the...