In The News

Sars Crisis: A Case of Too Much Democracy?

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray May 13, 2003
In times of crisis, governments tread a delicate balance between democratic ideals that guarantee civil liberties and autocratic measures for the common good. The ways in which Asian countries have responded to the SARS crisis provides an important case in point. China failed to take stringent measures to pre-empt the spread of SARS, and now it faces a national SARS epidemic that has enormous...

A Trusteeship for Palestine?

Martin Indyk May 12, 2003
Worrying that US President Bush’s "road map" agenda for the end to the Israel-Palestine conflict will fall through, Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel, and other members of the Saban Center's Israeli-Palestinian Workshop have proposed an alternative solution. They suggest a three-year international governing force in Palestine, headed by the UN, IMF, WTO, and various...

U.S. to Blame for Derailing Process of Denuclearisation on Korean Peninsula

May 12, 2003
As the new South Korean Prime Minister begins his first official visit to the United States, North Korea's Central News Agency released a report detailing the central role the United States has played and continues to play in the nuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The report is a scathing indictment of US foreign policy and holds the US solely responsible for undermining North and...

Seven Nuclear Sites Looted

Barton Gellman May 10, 2003
Seven nuclear facilities in Iraq were heavily damaged or destroyed by mass lootings that began with the arrival of US ground forces in Iraq in April. Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and U.N. resolutions, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has the sole legal authority to carry out inspections of the nuclear sites. But all that changed with the Iraq War. IAEA has even had...

Korea’s New Wave

Suki Kim May 10, 2003
North Korea and South Korea have vastly different political systems and economies, and occupy distinct positions in world politics. Yet in recent years, people in North and South Korea seem to be share a growing resentment towards American involvement in Korean affairs. In spite of the apparent ‘Americanization’ of South Korea, most South Koreans believe that American involvement has impeded a...

In the Absence of Will

Ibrahim Nafie May 9, 2003
The rapid success of the US in the Iraq War shocked many in the Arab world, says this article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly. But what are the lessons to be learned? Commentator Ibrahim Nafi writes that Arab unity cannot emerge by simply updating old agreements. What's required, he says, is genuine, active engagement with the needs of Arab people as a whole, and that must start with...

Will Vajpayee's Gambit Pay Off?

Edward Luce May 8, 2003
Can a military victory in one part of the world promote peace in another? A writer of the Financial Times thinks that may be happening. With the Iraq War over, India and Pakistan are assessing the long-term impact of the American victory. Although India publicly opposed the war, its leaders may not dislike the message that an American victory sends to countries supporting Islamic terrorists....