In The News

As Death Stalks Iraq, Middle-Class Exodus Begins

Sabrina Tavernise May 23, 2006
Ongoing violence in Iraq forces middle class and wealthy citizens to abandon homes and confess a lack of faith in the newly forming government. Murders of teachers, sanitation workers and even children are routine. Businesses often receive warnings to leave, parents withdraw their children from schools in record numbers, and families move to countries like Jordan and Syria. About 7 percent of...

“We the Japanese People” – A Reflection on Public Opinion

Hikari Agakimi May 22, 2006
For more than 60 years following its devastation in World War II, Japan has held onto an intense fear of militarism, renouncing the right to wage war and limiting its self-defense force. A side effect of such pacifist policies, according to scholar Hikari Agakimi, is a carefree people who struggle to find a national identity. In a 2005 survey of high school students, only 13 percent reported...

The Palestinian Tipping Point

Anna Coote May 22, 2006
Even as much of the world shuddered at implications for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Hamas took power in Palestine with a platform of provision. Despite widespread international distrust for Hamas, Palestinians democratically voiced a longing for basic services. Sadly the Palestinian-Israeli conflict supersedes education, economic and other goals in Palestine and infiltrates most...

EU Shoe Duty Trips Up Retailers

Juliane Von Reppert-Bismarck May 22, 2006
European consumers like bargains from Asia, but continental manufacturers expect protection from competition, fully expecting the government to increase tariffs on overseas products. So the EU trade commissioner aims for some compromise, for example, imposing tariffs on shoes for adults, but not for children. Clever retailers find loopholes with every exemption, simply labeling more shoes for...

Iraq Black Hole: The $2 Trillion War

Craig Lambert May 18, 2006
Before the US invaded Iraq, the Pentagon and the US Office of Management and Budget estimated that the war could cost up to $60 billion and that Iraqi oil revenues would cover the costs. The Congressional Budget Office now estimates the war will cost $500 million. However, Harvard and Columbia professors have teamed up to prepare a true cost-benefit analysis based on government sources – and...

Islamist Threats to Dutch Politician Bring Chill at Home

Andrew Higgins May 18, 2006
Born in Somalia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Muslim countries, escaped an arranged marriage and arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee disgruntled about women’s rights in Islamic culture. She soon emerged as a member of Dutch parliament and a formidable critic of Islamic extremism. After extremists targeted Hirsi Ali with death threats, her fearful neighbors demanded that she be ousted from her...

Pakistan’s Obedient Son

Susanne Koelbl May 17, 2006
Both the US and Afghanistan pressure Pakistan to capture suspected terrorists hiding along its borders. Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf and Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai once had strong ties, but the relationship is unraveling over the issue. Meanwhile warlords challenge Musharraf’s authority and promote domestic unrest, motivated by the desire for control of Pakistan’s rich natural...