In The News

How Not to Inflame Iraq

Javad Zarif February 12, 2007
Speaking to the UN Security Council in 2003, just prior to the US invasion of Iraq, Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif warned the world that, “extremism stands to benefit enormously from an uncalculated adventure in Iraq.” As the US prepares to escalate troops in Iraq to confront an ever-growing insurgency, Zarif once again urges Washington to abandon shortsighted schemes, arguing that an “escalated...

Watchdog Attacks US Swoop for Bank Secrets

Ian Traynor February 9, 2007
The transatlantic conflict over privacy rights and international security continues as the leading European authority on data protection announced that a US financial information-sharing program abuses privacy rights “on a massive scale,” reports “The Guardian.” For the past six years, the US has collected names, account numbers and sums from European banking transactions through the Belgian-...

What North Korea Really Wants

Robert Carlin February 8, 2007
With the six-party negotiations, North Korea certainly has some goals, but those remain a mystery to many observers from the West. The nation could want some economic rewards, including energy, food or other forms of aid. Or, the nation could want security or diplomatic relations. Robert Carlin and John Lewis, long-time analysts of North Korea, contend that the nation really wants “a long-term,...

America’s China Worries – Part II

Bruce Stokes February 8, 2007
China has emerged as both mammoth producer and consumer, and that means more countries, including key US allies, depend on China for their economic well-being. The second article in this three-part series on worries besetting China-US relations explores how one nation’s expanding influence over global trade policy diminishes the other’s influence and flexibility. As the US trade imbalance with...

Bangladesh on the Brink

C. Christine Fair February 7, 2007
A major Muslim nation with a strong Democratic tradition is now under military control, and the international community has barely noticed. National elections were canceled and a state of emergency was declared in Bangladesh. The military took control amid the ongoing quarrel between two major political parties, the Bangladesh National Party and the Awami League. In the past, minority Islamic...

America’s China Worries – Part I

Joan Johnson-Freese February 6, 2007
For more than a decade, the US was a lone superpower in terms of economic, diplomatic and military might. But China has steadily stepped up to the challenge, demonstrating its intent to serve as a counterweight to US influence when it comes to global affairs. In the first of this series of articles about challenges to US-China relations, Joan Johnson-Freese, chair of the US Naval War College’s...

Shiite-Sunni Conflict Rises in Pakistan

David Montero February 6, 2007
Many Muslim nations, despite their varying proportions of Shiites and Sunnis, have seen the representatives of both religious sects banding together to pray, even when one sect constitutes a minority presence in the government. However, many analysts fear that sectarian violence in Baghdad could spark similar resentment beyond Iraq’s borders. For example, suicide bombers recently attacked a...