In The News

European Union’s Southern Drive

Shada Islam May 30, 2003
Despite apparent attempts by the US to lead the world in every way and area, when it comes to northern Africa and the Middle East, the European Union has its own ideas. Europe's importation of immigrant labor to support its aging population has contributed to a buildup of over 13 million Muslims of Middle Eastern descent across the continent. In the face of continued economic shifts and...

Global Eye -- Copycat Killers

Chris Floyd May 30, 2003
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been taking lessons from US President Bush, says this article in the Moscow Times. Megawati is using Bush’s anti-terrorist rhetoric and military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq to justify her bloody invasion of Aceh, a rebel territory she characterizes as terrorist-ridden. While her strong military stance has heightened her domestic popularity,...

Poverty Doesn't Create Terrorists

Alan B. Krueger May 29, 2003
In his National Security Strategy issued in November 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush asserted that poverty was one of the factors leading to increased terrorist activities. This article in the New York Times, however, argues that civil liberty is the main factor and that wealth has little to do with terrorist activities. The author cites a study which found that many suicide bombers were from...

Nuclear Confrontations with North Korea

William Perry May 28, 2003
Speaking in a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, William Perry, the former Secretary of Defense of the Clinton administration, said that the Korean Crisis of June 1994 was the only period during the Clinton presidency when the US came close to a major war. That was also the time the US took a diplomatic initiative to peacefully resolve the...

President Rewards Like-Minded World Leaders With State Visits

David E. Sanger May 28, 2003
U.S. President George W. Bush has used his Texas ranch for many world leaders' state visits. Now he has even had Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sit in on his highly classified morning intelligence briefing on global affairs and terrorist activities and given President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines special treatment as well. Japan has recently launched its first spy...

Global Prosperity at Risk

Ernesto Zedillo May 27, 2003
The upcoming meeting of the Group of Eight must help resolve the contentious trade disputes that threaten to ruin the free trade regime, says Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former President of Mexico. Without intervention by the leaders of the developed world at their June gathering in France, the Doha Round of WTO negotiations will continue to be...

Malay-Muslims Have a Role in Remaking Singapore

Lee Hsien Loong May 27, 2003
In the contemporary moment, no country is immune from the possibility of religious and sectarian violence, and the threat of global terrorism. In this speech to a Malay-Muslim youth organization, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, emphasizes the importance of cultural and religious pluralism, and the critical role of Malay-Muslims in Singapore's continued growth and...