In The News

Shades of Cambodia

Harold Meyerson January 12, 2007
US President Bush announced publicly that the US will “seek out and destroy” any networks supplying weapons or training to “our enemies in Iraq. Bush’s stance defies the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan group of former high-level government officials who suggested that the US rely on diplomacy with Iraq’s neighbors rather than military solutions. In an essay for “...

Is Southeast Asia Becoming China’s Playpen?

Sheng Lijun January 11, 2007
China never had to exert massive military might or economic investment to gain influence in Southeast Asia. After the US resumed relations with the mainland, members of the Association of South-East Asia Nations (ASEAN) followed suit. During the Cold War, the US aimed to dilute Soviet influence in the region and encouraged collaboration. With the US increasingly distracted in the Middle East,...

African Search for Peace Throws Court into Crisis

Chris McGreal January 11, 2007
The International Criminal Court’s first indictment was against the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) of Uganda, Joseph Kony and four other commanders. The Ugandan government requested that the ICC investigate the matter, expecting that neighboring governments would withdraw support of the LRA. But the Ugandan government has reversed itself, now asking the ICC to drop the indictments if...

India: Emerging as Eastern or Western Power?

Kishore Mahbubani December 19, 2006
Asian nations grow more confident, more optimistic, even as the US withdraws from global leadership, fearful after the 9/11 attacks and lashing out in anger like a wounded animal, without plans or purpose. By condoning torture and instigating war while overlooking pressing problems, the US has abandoned lofty principles it once embraced. With that context, former Singapore ambassador to the...

Washington’s Iraq Dilemma: Dialogue with Syria Could Serve Bigger Purpose

Matthew Lee December 14, 2006
The Iraq Study Group report recommends diplomatic initiative to resolve the war in Iraq. If the US administration heeds the advice of the Iraq Study Group, by seeking containment of the Iraqi conflict through dialogue with regional powers, one promising candidate would be Damascus. In the second of this two-part series, Matthew Lee explores how, for a brief moment, the interests of the US and the...

NATO after Riga

Joseph S. Nye December 14, 2006
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) survived the end of the Cold War by re-inventing itself and adapting to a changing world, writes Harvard Professor Joseph Nye. Yet even a transformed NATO faces many challenges, particularly as the military alliance undertakes action beyond Europe in Afghanistan. Success in Afghanistan requires more troops and greater flexibility, argues Nye. “One of...

Revisiting the Debate on America's Pro-Israel Lobby

Rami G. Khouri December 14, 2006
When it comes to issues of conflict and hatred, debate is best managed with a calm, evidence-based approach, according to analyst Rami Khouri. The comment comes amid world condemnation for Iran hosting a conference that questions the Nazi effort during the mid-20th century to kill all Jews. Khouri bemoans the lack of “rational middle ground between those who question or deny the Holocaust...