In The News

US Rout Is Iran's Condition to Talk to Washington

David Ignatius December 7, 2006

Viewed From Chinese Border, North Korea Is More Curiosity Than Threat

Lauren Keane November 9, 2006
Beijing has declared its official opposition to the nuclear tests conducted by North Korea and even responded to international calls to impose partial economic sanctions on its historic ally. Despite their government’s seemingly forceful reaction, however, the Chinese people seem largely unconcerned about a nuclear North Korea. Many cite the historically friendly relationship between the two...

Pyongyang: Let’s Talk, But Change the Subject

Nayan Chanda November 7, 2006
North Korea has developed a negotiating strategy that takes the country to the edge of major crisis before pulling back in exchange for some concessions. By actually testing a nuclear device in early October, North Korea has gone over the red line that was drawn by the US, China and other powers. But true to style, North Korea has returned to the negotiating table, says Nayan Chanda, and hopes...

US Web Archive Is Said to Reveal a Nuclear Primer

William J. Broad November 3, 2006
Intent on proving that Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Republican politicians in the US demanded release of an archive of Iraqi documents, and President George Bush gave the nod. Weapons analysts, from agencies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, now describe the release as a...

Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age

Noah Feldman November 1, 2006
Iran’s defiance over international demands that it stop nuclear research could galvanize Shiites to demand more power throughout Asia, leading to nuclear proliferation on the continent. With violence escalating between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, author Noah Feldman ponders how the competing sects might handle a nuclear weapon in their midst. Nuclear weapons have less meaning as deterrents in...

North Korea Agrees to Return to Nuclear Talks

Howard Schneider November 1, 2006
After a lengthy meeting in Beijing with Chinese and US officials, North Korea agreed to return to Six-Party Talks. The announcement could ease tensions in the Asia Pacific region after North Korea tested a nuclear device in early October. North Korea has sent mixed messages to the international community during the past year: During the last round of talks in 2005, North Korea had assured the...

America's Double Standard Fuels Crises

Ramzy Baroud October 31, 2006
North Korea’s nuclear arsenal must be dismantled, but the US must consider the stability of the North Korean Peninsula over its own political goals in any decision about how to proceed. US eagerness for regime change in Iraq led the US to its current quagmire of sectarian conflict and surmounting deficits. In 2005, just after North Korea agreed to end its nuclear program in a joint statement by...