In The News

President Praises the EU's Example as Nation's Future

Chang Yun-ping July 29, 2004
While talking with French Parliamentarian Alain Madelin, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian reiterated his belief that the EU could serve as model for relations between Taiwan and China. Chen attributed the appeal of Europe’s integration to its “trade-based interactions” and “principles of voluntary participation, equality and peace.” Madelin, however, pointed out that application of the...

Can America Regain Its Soft Power After Abu Ghraib?

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. July 29, 2004
One of the heaviest costs of the Iraq War has been the loss of America’s reputation worldwide, writes Harvard professor Joseph S. Nye, Jr. The image of America as an arrogant, global bully is increasingly commonplace around the world. The abuses at Abu Ghraib prison have exacerbated this negative perception of the US, and contributed to the decline of America’s 'soft power'. For...

Seoul, Israel Differ on Korean Pilgrims

Choi Soung-ah July 28, 2004
It was only one month ago that South Korean citizen Kim Sun-il was beheaded in Iraq due to what his captors claimed to be participation by him and his company in Christian activities. So it may come as no surprise that South Korea’s government is concerned about the prospect of 3,000 Korean college students traveling to Israel. The students are traveling to participate in the "Jerusalem...

Myanmar: Sanctions Won't Work

Jeffrey Sachs July 27, 2004
Fourteen years ago Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won an election against Myanmar's incumbent military government. After the elections, however, the military annulled the results, leading the US to impose economic sanctions against Myanmar’s government. Economist Jeffrey Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, argues in this op-ed that the USA should not...

Global Terror Threats Pose Great Local Challenges to First-Responders

S. L. Bachman July 27, 2004
With the advent of the global war on terror, local first-responders in many parts of the world have been charged by national governments with countering and mitigating the effects of terror attacks. Globalization scholar S.L. Bachman, however, argues that tragedies like the September 11 attacks on the US and the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia show that local police, firefighters, and medical...

Berlin to Ban Religious Symbols

Elizabeth Goetze July 23, 2004
Berlin’s ruling coalition of Social Democrats and the Party of Democratic Socialism decided after much deliberation to pass a bill introduced by the city’s Interior Minister, Ehrhart Körting, that bans the display of any religious symbols by those employed in the public sector. Unlike previous legislation passed by several German states, this bill transcends the Muslim headscarf and includes...

'Bad Press' Causing Headaches for Beijing

Paul Mooney July 22, 2004
Although SARS may have served as a wake-up call to China's leaders on the importance of free speech and openness, over the past year and a half Beijing seems to have been backsliding. Writing from Beijing, Paul Mooney notes that one newspaper was shut down in March 2003 for criticizing Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin for being autocratic. Another paper's editors were...