In The News

Thinking the Unthinkable: A World Without Nuclear Weapons

Carla Anne Robbins July 1, 2008
Arms control has not been a priority for major global powers. Almost two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the US and Russia alone have more than 20,000 weapons, and small countries like Iraq and North Korea have presented nuclear threats. A group of policy experts, including George Schultz and Henry Kissinger, have called for a shift in US policy, arguing that the US lead the charge to...

Big Issues for the Next President

David Wessel June 30, 2008
The US electorate holds high expectations for the next president – and most center on improving the economy. Yet most voters tend to overlook the multitude of connections that make up the economy, failing to realize how their choices on purchases or activities contribute to daily life and the societies where we live. The US president can provide great leadership by demonstrating such connections...

India’s Search for a Foreign Policy

Harsh V. Pant June 26, 2008
India remains deadlocked over a US-India civilian nuclear-energy pact. Delay dims prospects for final approval by either nation and reflects the Indian government’s general inability to establish a grand strategy for itself, with foreign-policy goals that set a direction for the country, argues Harsh V. Pant. In too many areas – Chinese border disputes, Maoists and other terrorists gaining...

Obama Goes Soft on Free Trade

John Nichols June 24, 2008
American workers blame much of their recent economic hardships on free-trade agreements, focusing their enmity on the North American Free Trade Agreement in particular. Barack Obama has sought to harness this enmity in the past, criticizing NAFTA in an effort to court working-class voters during the primary battle with Hillary Clinton. Now that he has secured the Democratic presidential...

On the Campaign Trail

June 24, 2008
Whatever the result of November’s election, most observers expect the next US president to be more science-friendly than George W. Bush. Both Barack Obama and John McCain are expected to repeal Bush’s curbs on stem-cell research and step up the fight against climate change. Of course, the two men differ on some details of science-related issues. The most important test of the candidates is not a...

Waiting For Obama: The First Global Election

Derek Shearer June 23, 2008
With the George W. Bush presidency coming to a close, global observers anticipate greater international engagement from the US. Students in countries like Syria, Peru and Bolivia are particularly amazed that the US voters might possibly select minority Barack Obama, whose father was an immigrant and whose name is not traditionally European, explains Derek Shearer, a former ambassador to Finland...

Time for a Global Town-Hall Meeting?

Jeffrey Garten June 19, 2008
People all over the world don’t have a right to vote in the US, but remain keenly interested in the country’s elections – because what the new president might do or not do often affects their countries and even their daily lives. While no one would suggest granting foreigners the right to influence the US election, that should not prevent Americans from hearing foreign views and concerns in a...