In The News

The Geopolitics of Football

Pascal Boniface June 14, 2006
Can sports – and football in particular – be globalization’s answer to deeply rooted conflict? Do football matches unleash or build tensions between countries who struggle diplomatically? Rituals of the match, such as waving flags or singing anthems, can inject new passion into national rivalries or also diffuse hostility. Games reflect larger issues and allow “for symbolically limited...

How Good Is American Intelligence on Iran’s Bomb?

Graham Allison June 13, 2006
The US should be wary of progress in the Iranian nuclear standoff that could either be promising or illusory. Without discounting recent diplomatic achievements, Graham Allison, a former US defense official and a leading analyst of national security and nuclear weapons, cautions that US intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program may not be accurate. US intelligence officers could be drastically...

Report: Biofuels Poised to Displace Oil

June 12, 2006
As governments slowly come to realize that oil is a finite commodity, biofuels attract more attention worldwide. Brazil is the foremost producer of biofuels with the US gaining. The German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection released an in-depth analysis of the potential risks and benefits of biofuels. Among the risks posed are potential competition between food and...

Death in Darfur

Mohamed Buisier June 9, 2006
The Arab League’s response, or lack thereof, to the massacres in Darfur signals a leadership problem that must be confronted. Political activist Mohamed Buisier opposes the culture of fear that supports Arab leaders as well as the crimes committed by leaders against their own people – and urges reexamination of leadership and government’s legitimacy in the Arab world. The Arab League’s denial of...

Zarqawi Built Global Jihadist Network on Internet

Scott Shane June 9, 2006
Since April 2004, when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi posted his first communiqué on a jihadist website, the militant leader has used the Internet as a successful and deadly tool. Creating a worldwide network, Zarqawi’s volunteers post messages from their leader and videos of militant acts, like beheading, on multiple servers to avoid delays in downloading, also making it difficult for the material to be...

For One Month Every Four Years, A New World Order Leaves America on Touchline

Simon Tisdall June 8, 2006
Football – known as soccer in the US – is not as deeply rooted in US history as it is for other countries around the globe. A US team hoisting the World Cup, therefore, could a most unbearable image for the rest of the football-crazed world. Luckily for US foreign policy, the chances of the nation flexing its hegemonic muscles on the pitch this summer are slim. Other international dramas,...

Time to Lift North Korea’s Quarantine

John Feffer June 8, 2006
North Korea is suspected of a long list of disturbing activities – drug smuggling, counterfeiting, money laundering and, not least, the development of nuclear weapons. The international community must focus on creating a viable state in North Korea, according to Author John Feffer, and yet the current US strategy of sanctions and military containment probably does more harm than good. Sanctioning...