In The News

War in Georgia: How the Caucasus Erupted

Carmen Eller August 8, 2008
The provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia struggle to break away from Georgia, and build closer links with Russia. Russia issues passports to residents in the provinces seeking independence and has also built a gas pipeline. Spreading conflict underscores ongoing differences between Russia and the US and the struggle to control energy sources. “Russia does not want to lose its influence on...

Europe Poised to Bolster Web Shield

Doreen Carvajal April 3, 2008
The internet is not constrained by national borders, and individual nations struggle both to police cybercrime and protect themselves from cyberattack. Now, a year after intense denial-of-service attacks crippled much of the Baltic nation of Estonia’s internet infrastructure, European and US officials strive to boost their cooperation against online threats. Critics warn, however, that these...

US Pushes Pie-in-the-Sky Missile Defense in Europe

Tom Sauer April 2, 2008
With the end of the Cold War and falling demand for offensive weapons systems, the military-industrial complex was forced to find substitutes for public spending. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, meeting today in Bucharest, will consider deploying one such product. Placing high-tech missile-defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic will be part of the meeting’s agenda. The costly...

Kosovo’s Independence Could Mean a New Conflict

Humphrey Hawksley November 5, 2007
After World War II, Kosovo became a province of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kosovo, with its majority of ethnic Albanians, enjoyed near-autonomy until 1989 and the oppressive rule of Slobodan Milosevic. The Albanians resisted throughout the 1990s, atrocities ensued, leading finally to intervention by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999. Yugoslavia splintered...

The Middle East’s Five Crises

Joris Voorhoeve July 16, 2007
The unrest in the Middle East may seem overwhelming, but the key to stability rests in five areas, according to Joris Voorhoeve, former defense minister for the Netherlands – the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the overall conflict between extremists and the government. Practical solutions are possible for each area: With Iraq troubled by...

The Truth About Talibanistan

Aryn Baker March 27, 2007
The tribal region of Pakistan, just over the border of Afghanistan, is increasingly becoming a sanctuary for Taliban and other extremists – a mini-state beyond the control of governments that straddle it on either side. Tough, young extremists take control of villages that lack any means of defense. Meanwhile, the US and NATO troops stationed in neighboring Afghanistan lack authority to enter...

Talks With Taliban Still the Best Prospect

Bronwen Maddox February 28, 2007
Afghanistan was the base for planning the 9/11 attacks on the US, and the US invaded the nation not long afterward. But more than five years later, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other extremist groups still wreak havoc throughout the country. “In the end, it will probably be necessary to deal with the Taleban or their sympathisers (if a distinction can really be made), as the Afghan and Pakistani...