In The News

What Surprise?

Nicholas Eberstadt March 1, 2005
North Korea's long-term goal has always been reunification of the Korean peninsula – under the unconditional rule of Pyongyang's socialist dictatorship. While the United States, Japan, and other countries have tried to deter North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs by offering aid, only a short-sighted strategist would reason that Pyongyang's objective is to...

India's City of Contrasts May Really Need Two Names

Anand Giridharadas February 28, 2005
Ten years ago, in seeking to escape its colonial legacy, India's wealthiest state re-named its flagship city, and Bombay became Mumbai. To this day, however, there is still confusion over what to call the city; the Times of India writes "Mumbai" on front-page news, but calls its entertainment insert the Bombay Times. Increasingly – and much to the confusion of outsiders – the...

Preventing a War over Taiwan

Kenneth Lieberthal February 24, 2005
An escalation of the ongoing standoff between Taiwan and China could draw the already over-committed United States military into an unpleasant – and unnecessary – armed conflict. As political scientist Kenneth Lieberthal writes, political missteps on both sides have inflamed already heated cross-Strait tensions. China's warnings of military action have been seen as empty threats....

The Pull of the West

Stefan Wagstyl February 22, 2005
When the governments of several Eastern European countries succeeded in joining the EU last year, the voice of protest was loud among the citizenry. Yet recently, opinion polls show a significant growth in approval rates for EU membership, reflecting the growing visibility of economic and political membership benefit. On the economic end, new member countries in Eastern Europe have seen...

Stand Up for People Power

Fareed Zakaria February 21, 2005
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s killing last week, possibly the result of his anti-Syrian remarks made at a summit months earlier, has now sparked a new Lebanese nationalism and international outrage that could seriously threaten the Syrian state. Among the many repercussions following Hariri’s death, an unprecedented partnership between the US and France has appeared, as both...

A Bitter Dispute Frozen in Time

Justin McCurry February 10, 2005
In the days following Japan's surrender in World War II, the Soviets seized four Japanese islands known as the Northern Territories. Sixty years after the war, the Russians still possess the islands, and Japan wants them back. While Russia is willing to honor a 1956 agreement to return two of the islands, Japanese leaders insist on the return of all four. As the author writes, amid the...

Concern on North Korea Brings US Pressure

David Sanger February 9, 2005
Suspicions about North Korea's possible nuclear materials sales to other nations have prompted diplomatic actions aimed at amplifying Chinese pressure on Kim Jong Il. A US envoy traveled to Beijing, urging the government to join in the effort to force North Korea to abandon its weapons program. China has agreed to cooperate, swayed by the caliber of damning new scientific evidence, but has...