In The News

A World Free of Nuclear Weapons

George P. Shultz January 8, 2007
The Cold War started and ended one era of Mutual Assured Nuclear Destruction. But today small states and non-state terrorist groups with nuclear ambitions pose an unprecedented threat to the world security. The process of denuclearization should start with current nuclear states destroying their arsenal and signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, urges a group of high-ranking US officials who...

Celebrate Koran Oath as an All-American Moment

James Zogby January 5, 2007
Critics lashed out at one US congressman’s decision to use the Koran rather than a Bible for taking his oath for office. Some critics said Keith Ellison’s decision to use the Koran “undermines American civilization.” Indeed, most members of Congress don’t use any book at all. Ellison’s decision to use a Koran that belonged to Thomas Jefferson – author of the Declaration of Independence, the third...

Hussein Era Secrets May Lie Buried

Solomon Moore January 5, 2007
Investigators continue to seek answers regarding Saddam Hussein’s activities over the years, including hidden graves of his victims, missing government funds that amount to billions of dollars, hidden foreign bank accounts and clandestine support from Western corporations and governments on weapons programs. In controlling Iraq, the former dictator kept many secrets; for example, his own generals...

Mongolia Is Roiled by Miner's Huge Plans

Patrick Barta January 4, 2007
As demand for commodities increase worldwide, Mongolians are in no hurry to approve plans for a massive mine, which according to some analysts could double the nation's gross domestic product. Looking at history, citizens of developing nations have good reason to suspect that such projects only produce troubles, with the bulk of sudden wealth going to foreign investors, all the while...

The Middle East's New Map

Mark Perry January 2, 2007
Humans are fond of categories, and the Middle East has long been subject to such analysis: nations that align with one power or another, nations with wealth or without, nations that function and those that don’t. But boundaries designated by people are not so distinct, argues analyst Mark Perry. Arbitrary lines that created nations of the Middle East in 1919 did not put an end to sectarian...

A Ransom Worth Paying

January 2, 2007
In pursuit of profits, Brazilians quickly search for new land to plant soybean fields, and the rainforests of the state of Amazonas could vanish within a generation, according to an article in “The Economist.” Some Brazilians would not mind putting a stop to deforestation, but the only way that will happen is if wealthy nations pay Brazil and other poor countries in the region to save the...

Tajikistan's Iron Man

December 26, 2006
Imomali Rahmonov has been reelected president of Tajikistan, but only after amending his nation’s constitution to allow his run for a third term. Though his margin of victory was low by the standards of the strongmen of the world – he received only 79.3 percent of the vote – the nod to democratic process cannot disguise the administration’s control over the outcome. Official observers from...