In The News

Israeli Assassination Draws World Outrage

March 22, 2004
Israeli missiles killed Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hamas, on March 22 morning as he left a Mosque. Hamas is blamed for many of the suicide bombings against Israel, and Sheik Yassin is thought to have ordered several of them. The killing was lauded in Israel as a major victory against terrorism, but was loudly condemned elsewhere in the world – especially...

Unification Can Only Follow Democratization

Orville Schell March 19, 2004
Taiwan may have been its own country for seven out of the last eleven decades and claim that it has the right to decide for itself its sovereign status, but that does not prevent China from pressing for unification. . In recent years, China and Taiwan have come closer due to increased economic interactions, but why does China still point 500 missiles on the island? A large part of the answer can...

A Leaner, Meaner Jihad

Scott Atran March 16, 2004
Although the culprits behind last week's Madrid bombings have yet to be identified, it seems that most fingers are pointing to Islamic jihadists. In this op-ed article, Scott Atran argues that America's fight against terrorism is like Hercules' fight against the Hydra – each time one head is cut off, new heads spring forth to continue the battle. Contrary to many people's...

Where Are the Jobs? The Harsh Truth about Outsourcing

Paul Craig Roberts March 15, 2004
As the US struggles to deal with the political and economic fallout from the outsourcing of high-tech and manufacturing jobs overseas, many analysts have come down on all sides of the debate. Will America benefit in the end? Does the theory of "comparative advantage" hold true? Can the US find a niche that will allow it to replace the jobs lost and reverse wage declines? The answer,...

From Bali to Madrid, Attackers Seek to Inflict Ever-Greater Casualties

Ewen MacAskill March 12, 2004
In a worrisome development, Spain's tragic bombing yesterday may mark a shift in strategies for small, politically-directed terrorist groups. If ETA, the Basque separatist group, was behind the train bombing that killed almost 200 people, then their methods have changed and their aim has become bloodier. Al-Qaida's attack on 9/11 may have provided an unfortunate lesson – terrorist...

Taiwan's Challenge to China and the World - Part I

Jean-Pierre Cabestan March 12, 2004
With Taiwan's approaching referendum and presidential election set for March 20, the world is watching to see what Taiwanese voters will do and how China will react. The incumbent, President Chen Shui-bian, originally planned to ask Taiwanese voters whether they disapproved of Chinese missile deployment, but after intense US and EU pressure, he watered down the referendum's wording....

Party's Over

Reem Nafie March 8, 2004
On January 1, 2004, the Egyptian government stopped granting foreign belly dancers licenses to dance within the nation. Claiming that the national dance was being appropriated by foreigners, the Ministry of Labor says it moved to alleviate Egyptian unemployment in the dancing industry. Belly dancing was invented in Egypt and has historically been a national art form, being performed at top...