In The News

Malaysia Harbouring Militants?

Reme Ahmad April 7, 2004
Bilateral relations between Thailand and Malaysia have been unfailingly polite, states this news report in Singapore's Straits Times. The "diplomatic niceties" appear to have been put aside now, however, as Thailand and Malaysia discuss the contentious issue of terrorist bombings in Thailand. Thailand has accused Malaysia of harboring Muslim separatist terrorists believed to be...

An Explosive Relationship

April 5, 2004
The devastating bombings of March 11th left Spain – and Europe as a whole – feeling newly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Now, in an effort to crack down on what is seen as a widespread threat, governments across the continent are seeking increased police power to stop another attack. The suicides of suspected organizers of the Madrid bombings on April 3rd were the dramatic consequences of...

China's Net watchdogs: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Liyuan Lu April 3, 2004
Political dissidence in China has long searched for an appropriate outlet. With the advent of the internet, anger at politicians, foreigners, upper classes, and others has moved online. Sometimes, internet news forums have served as forces for progressive change – political prisoners have been released after online petitions and editorials became widespread. But at other times, the internet has...

Bombings and Shootings Rock Uzbekistan

Esmer Islamov March 30, 2004
Bombs have ripped through Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capitol. While no group has claimed responsibility, officials have suggested foreign terrorists and Muslim radicals as the possible cause. But many Uzbeki's are more likely to blame the widespread discontent with President Islam Karimov's government: the result of the deepening sense of loss of liberty and democracy, and the...

A Normal Country

Andrei Shleifer March 30, 2004
In this Foreign Affairs’ essay, Andrei Shleifer and Daniel Treisman argue that the popular image in the west of Russia as a “disastrous failure” needs to be rethought. General belief holds that Russia has failed to leave its communist past behind, and as a result, has transformed itself into “a collapsed state inhabited by criminals threatening other countries with multiple contagions.” Contrary...

Arabs Disunited

John R. Bradley March 30, 2004
For the first time since 1983, the Arab League cancelled its summit, citing "difference of views" as the reason. While Egypt wished to discuss US proposals for reform in the region, Syria wanted to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arab despots have often used the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to deflect attention from their own draconian rule, some have noted. The summit was...

Clearing Clouds Over the Karakoram Pass

Ziad Haider March 29, 2004
Over the latter half of the 20th century, relations between China and Pakistan were anchored in large part on both countries' strategic interest in balancing India as a regional power. The Karakoram Highway, which runs for 500 miles between the two nations, is representative of those collective interests. However, says Ziad Haider of the Henry L. Stimson Center, since the Highway was...