In The News

'North Korea is a Symptom of a Larger Problem'

October 8, 2003
While terrorism continues to preoccupy Western countries, some security thinkers worry about the disintegration of the non-proliferation regime. North Korea has withdrawn from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and Iran may follow suit. In an interview with YaleGlobal Editor Nayan Chanda, President of the International Crisis Group and former Foreign Minister of Australia Gareth Evans...

Where Did Iraq's Weapons Go?

Michael O'Hanlon October 6, 2003
It is now official that American inspectors have been unable to find any weapons of mass destruction within Iraq, contradicting pre-war claims by the Bush and Blair administrations about imminent threat from Saddam Hussein's possession of chemical and biological weapons. The lack of evidence has made the public doubt the original justifications for the Iraqi invasion. Michael O'Hanlon...

Asians Fear Rising US Protectionism

Michael Richardson October 3, 2003
On the eve of the annual summit of Asia-Pacific nations, many Asian countries are expressing worry over US trade policy, says Michael Richardson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore. US President George W. Bush will be welcomed at the APEC (Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation) conference later this month in the midst of what will likely be...

Roh Says Iraq Troops Hinge on NK Nukes

Sim Sung-tae October 2, 2003
Though the US has made an effort to keep the security issues of North Korea and Iraq separate, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun views them as connected. President Roh hesitates to deploy any troops to the Middle East, thus sending an "indirect message" to the US to consider the non-aggression pact that North Korea has been demanding. According to the author, as the US continues to...

North Korea Says It Is Using Plutonium to Make A-Bombs

James Brooke October 2, 2003
While claiming to be producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, Pyongyang's vice foreign minister also emphasized that "We have no intention of transferring any means of that nuclear deterrence to other countries." Apparently, the communist regime wants to avoid pushing Washington so far that the Bush administration would declare the need for a pre-emptive strike. But analysts...

U.S. Must Counteract Image in Muslim World, Panel Says

Steven R. Weisman October 1, 2003
A team of academics, diplomats, and writers convened by the Bush administration has found "shocking levels" of hostility towards the US in the Muslim world. The panel found anti-American sentiment increasing in the wake of the Iraq war and escalating Israel-Palestine conflict, and called this sentiment a "lethal threat" to American interests and public safety. The panel's...

China Bids for the High Ground

Joan Johnson-Freese October 1, 2003
The world may seem a little smaller to China soon - especially as viewed from outer space. The Chinese government plans to launch a manned space capsule in the next few weeks, closing a technological gap with Russia and the US that no other country has crossed. Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert in Chinese space technology at the US Naval War College, believes that to understand the implications of...