In The News

New U.S. Concerns on Iran's Pursuit of Nuclear Arms

Steven R. Weisman May 8, 2003
After having dealt with one of the “Axis of Evil” countries Washington is now focusing on the other two- Iran and North Korea. While North Korea’s public threat about its nuclear program has got it the world’s spotlight, the US is concerned that Iran’s quiet work on its nuclear weapon program is not receiving sufficient attention. Iran’s clandestine effort to build a large uranium enrichment...

North Korea's Missile Trade Helps Fund Its Nuclear Program

Bertil Lintner May 5, 2003
A New York Times article on May 5 says that “tacitly acknowledging that North Korea may not be deterred from producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, President Bush is now trying to marshal international support for preventing the country from exporting nuclear material.” While preventing the export of nuclear material has emerged as the top priority the US government is also considering how to...

Iraqi Nuclear Site Is Found Looted

Barton Gellman May 4, 2003
A specially trained US Defense Department team inspected a major Iraqi radioactive waste repository and discovered that the site had been severely looted. Computers, furniture and equipment appear to have been looted by Iraqi civilians since the beginning of US led military action. However, US authorities remain uncertain as to who might have taken the nuclear materials and why. On site...

Why the Security Council Failed

Michael J. Glennon May 1, 2003
The UN was weak and irrelevant long before the divisive US-led war on Iraq made this painfully obvious, International Law scholar Michael Glennon maintains. He explains that Iraq is more a symptom of UN structural problems and changes in its geopolitical environment than a cause.. The UN was created to preside over a multi-polar world and now finds itself dealing with an unrivalled US hegemony...

Talk Tough, Talk Quiet

Anita Pratap May 1, 2003
War hawks in Delhi are eager to use America’s war in Iraq as a model for a preemptive strike on Pakistan. Arguably, the situations are somewhat analogous: there have been instances of cross-border terrorism, some Pakistanis have cooperated with Al Qaeda, and India does not fear Pakistan has weapons of mass destruction – it knows they’re there. Author Anita Prajab argues that all of these...

2 Koreas Struggle Over Nuclear Issue

Joint Press Corps April 29, 2003
Divergent opinions regarding the nuclear weapons program in North Korea undermined the recent Inter-Korean ministerial talks between North and South Korea. South Korea advocates a dismantling of the North Korean nuclear weapons development program. North Korea however, insists that it will only discuss the issue with the United States. The contentiousness of this issue undermines on-going...

China's Mediation Backfires on North Korea

Nayan Chanda April 28, 2003
As Beijing played host to the first US-North Korea talks, reports from Washington claimed that the Pentagon is seeking China's help in bringing about regime change in North Korea. Under Washington's urging, China indeed took the initiative to invite North Korea to Beijing for talks, but it did not bargain for what the North Korean representative delivered. By using that meeting to claim...