In The News

What Can Israel Achieve?

Immanuel Wallerstein August 2, 2006
There has long been violence between Arabs and Jews, particularly after the creation of Israel in 1948. By relying on its strong military and outside support – first from the Soviet Union, then France and later the US – Israel has survived as a nation. But some question how long this strategy will work. Pointing to parallels between US President Bush’s invasion of Iraq and Israel’s conflict with...

How to Deal With NGOs – Part I, China

Paul Mooney August 1, 2006
Both China and Russia sat up and took notice of the role played by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the political unrest and subsequent color revolutions in Georgia, the Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. This two-part series examines the two governments’ responses to NGO activity within their borders. China dispatched intelligence officers to research the NGO role in Central Asia and also conduct...

A Week of Reckoning; A New Enemy Gains on the U.S.

Thom Shanker July 30, 2006
Both the US and Israel have fought armies of nation-states as well as terrorist organizations. But Hezbollah blends the advanced army of a state with the invisibility of a guerilla force. Given this combination, defeating Hezbollah with conventional tactics will prove difficult. As a network, the Hezbollah strategy depends on a flattened command structure. With no generals or privates, the...

Power Ploy

Marc Lynch July 27, 2006
Defying public opinion in their homelands, the Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian governments promptly condemned Hezbollah’s actions against Israel. The governments have reason for changing positions regarding Hezbollah, according to author Marc Lynch, the most important being that their leaders view the Lebanon crisis as a way to “demonstrate their value to the US,” thus stopping calls for...

Multipolar Disorder

Timothy Garton Ash July 24, 2006
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the US took on the role of world’s supreme power. In retrospect, the moment was brief. As the world’s leading power, the US invaded Iraq – and the notion of a world guided by the might and morals of a single nation unraveled. Attempts to manage conflicts such as the current explosion between Israel and Lebanon face a labyrinth of cause-and-effect...

The Taliban’s Silent Partner

Robert D. Kaplan July 21, 2006
While the Afghan government, led by US-backed President Hamid Karzai, controls the country’s major cities, the countryside remains subject to Taliban infiltration. Over 75 percent of Afghanistan’s population lives in rural villages. Thus, using Pakistan as a rear base, Taliban units provide security and other concrete needs to villagers that the government fails to deliver. Pakistani President...

Only a UN-Led Peace Process Can Halt the Iraq Catastrophe

Menzies Campbell July 17, 2006
Continued violence and instability in Iraq have undermined the ability of coalition forces to play a positive role in the reconstruction, writes Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in the UK. To move forward, he explains, the task must be internationalized and carefully planned. Urging that the United Nations should be given more control of the peace process, Campbell writes...