In The News

America in Africa: Addressing a Mix of Islam and Oil

Ricardo Rene Laremont February 6, 2007
Amidst the lingering turbulence in the Middle East, US policymakers look to Africa as an alternative source of petroleum. Washington has launched military training operations in a number of African nations in an effort to combat Islamic terrorism and secure oil supplies. While there is no doubt that such military investments are necessary in the post-9/11 world, Ricardo Rene Laremont expresses...

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...

Tripping on the Tightrope

Graham Usher November 13, 2006
Citizens of Muslim countries increasingly question who exactly are the targets in the US-led “war on terror.” In late October, three US-made missiles struck a madrassa in Bajaur, not far from the border of Afghanistan, killing more than 75 men under the age of 20. US and Pakistan leaders insisted the religious school was a training site for suicide bombers. Pakistani citizens suspect that the US...

The Globalization Index

Paul Laudicina October 19, 2006
The impacts of globalization and roads to integration are almost as varied as the number of countries in the world. “Foreign Policy” and the A.T. Kearney consulting firm have released the sixth annual ranking of 62 countries based on their degree of globalization. The analysis focuses on categories of economic integration, personal contact, technological connectivity and political engagement....

Ottoman Ghosts: Turkey in the Middle East

Matein Khalid October 5, 2006
The Turkish Parliament’s decision to send troops to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon is a milestone event, according to banker Matein Khalid. Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Turkey’s policies and politics have largely distanced the secularized country from the Arab world. On one hand, the Turkish prime minister refused to let the US use Turkish bases to invade...

Taliban Exposes Cracks in NATO

Simon Tisdall September 21, 2006
NATO’s secretary-general has requested additional troops for Afghanistan. Making a public plea, he said that some nations carrying more burden than others. Many members are reluctant to send troops to the country’s southern region, where drug trade and local warlord power engage the troops in conflict, forcing them to abandon the original reconstruction mission. Aggravating the troop shortage is...

Turkey Toughs Out Terror

September 14, 2006
An offshoot of the separatist Kurdish Workers Party in Turkey has reignited its terrorist campaign, with attacks aimed at foreign tourists, designed to hurt Turkey economically. The government in Ankara has tried to address the group’s grievances by improving Kurdish rights, though investment in the impoverished, mostly Kurdish southeastern region of Turkey is lagging. The Turkish government...