In The News

Ne laissons pas la ‘Revolution Rose’ se faner

Philip H. Gordon August 18, 2005

Washington Grapples with Uzbekistan's Eviction Notice

Ariel Cohen August 17, 2005
On July 31, Uzbek officials gave the US military six months to vacate the Karshi-Khanabad (K-2) air base. While the eviction does not represent a major setback to US strategic interests, it does highlight the tense political atmosphere in Central Asia. The region, comprised largely of former Soviet republics, has been the focus of a quiet tug-of-war between the United States and Russia – now...

How to Be Weapon-Ready NPT Members

Leonard S. Spector August 16, 2005
The simmering trouble with the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs has come to a head, raising serious questions about the future of nonproliferation. These two countries' – one former and one current signatory of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) – new demands that bend, but do not explicitly break, the NPT rules have resulted in a dangerous standoff. Nonproliferation expert...

America Should Ditch its Tyrant Friends

T.K. Vogel August 16, 2005
"Grand rhetoric about democracy and freedom only resonates when it is supported by actual policy," write commentators T.K. Vogel and Eric A. Witte. In essence, they suggest that the Bush administration foreign policy has failed to adequately "walk the walk" in promoting democracy. While villainizing certain regimes, the US has allied itself with other leaders – for instance,...

An Islamic Alienation

David Rieff August 15, 2005
The London bombings perpetrated by native-born Muslims have forced Europeans to take a serious look at the status of the Continent’s Muslim minority. Suggestions that the Muslim alienation is due to anger in Muslim communities over the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, do not provide an adequate answer. Rieff argues that the reasons of alienation run much deeper than this. Europe’...

Muslims Unite! A New Reformation Will Bring Your Faith into the Modern Era

Salman Rushdie August 11, 2005
The British government's strategy of relying on traditional, but essentially orthodox, Muslims to help eradicate Islamist radicalism is ineffective, writes Salman Rushdie. Traditional Islam is a broad church that includes millions of tolerant, moderate believers – as well as those at odds with the cultures among which they live. What is truly needed to combat terrorism, says Rushdie, is a...

Dodging the Curse of Diamonds and Gold

Desha Girod August 11, 2005
As the G-8 unveiled an ambitious plan to lift Africa from the mire of debt and double foreign aid, a debate concerning the efficacy of aid has re-emerged. Many critics contend that additional aid money will merely benefit the corrupt leaders of a troubled continent, rather than support the reforms those nations sorely need. Desha Girod counters that, in certain circumstances, aid can be highly...