In The News

A Path to Global Disarmament

Hans Blix October 5, 2006
With North Korea threatening to test a nuclear weapon and openly blast its way into the nuclear club, the world is at a dangerous crossroads. The world community must craft careful responses to the states that are determined to become nuclear powers, writes Hans Blix, chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission. History has shown that incentives work better than threats. The...

Tools of Engagement

R. S. Zaharna October 4, 2006
A report from the US Government Accountability Office admits that the US confronts significant anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world. However, the report’s recommendation that the US must combine public relations and diplomacy “ignores the decline in US credibility,” argues R.S. Zaharna, communications professor, in “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The US report urges repeating...

Globalization Hits Road Bumps in India

Pranab Bardhan October 3, 2006
The economic integration of a country requires that it open to foreign investment, adhere to flexible labor laws and practice careful fiscal policies. In a country with severe poverty and economic inequality, however, such reforms do not win many votes for politicians. Well aware of this fact, India’s politicians play to what economist Pranab Bardhan calls “anti-reform populism.” Many voters...

The Never-Ending Myanmar Nightmare

Daniel Pepper September 30, 2006
The ruling military junta in Burma does not care what the world thinks about its rule. Though the junta pays no heed to outside pressure, some neighbors are intent on fostering relations or at least paying the government for permission to tap into its rich natural gas resources. While the Western countries largely shun the military regime, China and India stand ready to pay up to $17 billion...

Musharraf Denies Helping Al Qaeda

Kim Sengupta September 29, 2006
General Pervez Musharraf is furious over the leak of a report by a British Ministry of Defence think tank that suggests Pakistani intelligence forces colluded with Al Qaeda terrorists, including indirect support for extremists who targeted the UK. The report also described Pakistan, a state with nuclear weapons, as on “the edge of chaos.” UK Prime Minister Tony Blair assured the president that...

Man and His Endangered Home

Bo Ekman September 28, 2006
In their single-minded pursuit of economic growth and wealth, human beings could be collectively working themselves out of a home. Human activities systematically degrade the water, air and other surroundings that sustain life. The problem is not with pending shortages of resources, argues systems analyst and philanthropist Bo Ekman, but a rapidly growing population and new generations that...

Sobering Conclusions on Why Jihad Has Spread

Karen DeYoung September 27, 2006
Statisticians caution that correlations don’t necessarily prove cause and effect. After the leak of a US intelligence document that bleakly points out the war in Iraq has rallied extremists globally, the US president did not argue with the consensus document from 16 intelligence agencies. Instead, he quickly declassified a few sections and insisted that the findings demonstrate US progress in...