In The News

Safe Passage

Geoff Brumfiel September 11, 2006
After the 9/11 attacks five years ago, the US was paranoid about attacks from any direction, including foreign scientists. Congress passed legislation requiring face-to-face interviews with every visa applicant and background checks were particularly onerous for the likes of physicists, engineers and chemists. It was not uncommon for scientists, even those renown in their fields, to undergo...

The Basis for Iran's Belligerence

Shlomo Ben-Ami September 8, 2006
Without doubt, Israel has some dangerous foes. Attempts to remove those foes by military means and regime change, without efforts at diplomacy, have only strengthened old enemies and created new ones. Israel has good reason to worry about Iran, as the country develops nuclear capability and the president calls for Israel’s destruction. Israel cannot really depend on the US, which now struggles...

China's Revolutionary Myth

Gwynne Dyer September 5, 2006
Communism offered little in contributing to China’s status as a rising economic power. Chinese communists won the civil war in 1949, after which leaders experimented with a series of disastrous social policies, including the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward. Under Deng Xiao-ping in the 1980s, China tried its hand at some capitalism ventures, gradually intermingling with foreign...

The Spider's Web

Georg Mascolo September 4, 2006
The secretary general of the Arab League once warned that a war in Iraq would open "the door to hell." As hundreds of civilians die in the Middle East each week, the US struggles to control Iraq, Europe waits on the sidelines and Israel remains anxious about its long-term survival. As the world grows weary with conflict, Iran patiently waits. Even without nuclear bombs in hand, Iran,...

Will Oil Impose US-Iranian Reconciliation?

Hani Asfour September 1, 2006
After the US invasion of Iraq and then the invasion of Lebanon, speculation abounded about possible war between the West and Iran. Diplomacy experts in Europe and the US urge the Bush administration to open negotiations with Iran about ending the latter’s nuclear research and disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon – as well as ensure world energy supplies. Author Hani Asfour argues that the US has ample...

Chinese Take a Turn at Turning a Sub-Saharan Profit

Lydia Polgreen September 1, 2006
The country with the highest growth rate in the world targets Africa for development, as evidenced by its strong presence in nations both rich in oil and not. Trade between Africa and China nearly quadrupled since 2001. Some economists suggest that China offers the continent practical benefits, not patronizing lectures on religion, politics or economic systems. For example, in Senegal, China...

Excess Baggage

Claudia Rosett September 1, 2006
Iran stubbornly refuses to give up its nuclear-weapons research. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has calculated that the United Nations and its members are so polarized that they cannot muster the will to enforce sanctions or take military steps against a nation so intent on nuclear development, writes journalist Claudia Rosett. Rich with oil and gas reserves, Iran has plenty of cash to convince...