In The News

No More Rwandas

Michael E. O'Hanlon April 2, 2004
Ten years after the genocide in Rwanda began, is the international community better positioned to prevent another such horror from occurring elsewhere? The deaths of 800,000 Rwandans should have taught the world much, say Michael O'Hanlon and Susan Rice, senior fellows at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. In 1994 the US, France, and the UK failed to muster the political will to...

A Million Yassins?

Amira Howeidy March 26, 2004
Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, but the future of diplomatic relations between the two countries now looks shaky. Israel’s assassination last Monday of Hamas founder and prominent Palestinian, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, has set off zealous anti-Israel reactions among Egyptians. An estimated 50,000 university students protested at major Egyptian cities, and even those who...

Averting 9/11: How Close We Came

Faye Bowers March 25, 2004
Collecting accurate intelligence and building strategic alliances with front line states in Asia and the Middle East are quickly emerging as the indispensable tools for preventing future terrorist attacks. In the on-going 9/11 hearings in Washington, high ranking officials from the Clinton and the current Bush Administrations agree to the inherent difficulties in taking forceful action against...

Containerized Trade Imbalance Set to Worsen

Beth Jinks March 25, 2004
A third of all shipping containers that land in Singapore are empty, according to recent surveys. This trend is set to continue throughout Asia, as more manufacturing shifts to the region. But shipping empty containers is costly – and worrisome to operators of shipping lines. The current imbalance, say observers, is partly due to the rise of countries like China, whose cheaper labor constitutes a...

Jobs Can Be Outsourced, Not Politics

Harold James March 24, 2004
The American outcry about outsourcing stems not just from job loss, but also from the politician's favorite platitude - trade. According to Princeton historian, Harold James, ascribing job loss to trade is fraught with complications. Moreover, from a historical point of view, it is a recurring theme that often ends terribly. As James notes, throughout the latter part of the 19th and early...

Straw: Turkey is EU 'Acid Test'

Tom Happold March 23, 2004
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw claims that Turkey's membership in the EU will prove that Islam and the West are not locked in an inexorable "clash of civilizations." According to Straw, liberalism's values of pluralism, tolerence, the rule of law, and human rights are universal. If Turkey meets the right criteria, Straw hopes that negotiations for EU membership will get under...

Keep the Ban on Arms for China

Roger Cliff March 22, 2004
15 years ago, in the wake of the Tiananmen Square violence, the US and nations that now make up the EU agreed to an arms embargo towards China. Until their human rights record improved, China should not be supplied with weapons technology, argued the European and American states. Now, EU nations are facing a call from China to eliminate the "outdated" embargo in order to cement their...