In The News

East Asia and Bumpy Sino-Taiwanese Relations

Jusuf Wanandi July 1, 2004
With the Taiwan’s presidential election over the issue of its relations with China has receded from the public attention. This inattention, a leading Indonesian commentator Yusuf Wanandi says, could lead to the eruption of a dangerous conflict between China and Taiwan, affecting the stability and prosperity of all of East Asia. He says that the Taiwanese President Chen Shui Bian has decided on...

Exploding the Myths of Offshoring

Martin N. Baily July 1, 2004
In the heated public discourse in the US on outsourcing the aspect that is most often highlighted is the threat of American job loss to low-wage workers in India. In this essay a former Clinton administration economist Martin Baily and Diana Farrell , director of the McKinsey Global Institute make the case that outsourcing is in fact win-win for both the countries. They say that with the digital...

Blair: NATO Lacks Sense of Urgency

Matthew Tempest June 30, 2004
With the handover of sovereignty to Iraq now officially complete, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is calling on NATO to step up to the plate. In Iraq and Afghanistan, Blair said today, the transatlantic alliance must act soon and show resolve to build a peaceful and democratic polity. Currently, he said, NATO "lacked the right sense of urgency" in these two hot spots. Lamenting the fact...

U.S. Restrictions on Trips to Cuba are Inhumane

Jim Defede June 29, 2004
This commentary in the Miami Herald discusses the new travel restrictions enforced by the Bush administration, which will limit family visits to Cuba from once a year to once every three years. The author argues that this new policy is merely an election-year strategy designed to get older Cuban-Americans to vote for the Republican incumbent in November's US presidential election. The travel...

Gulf Security in a Globalizing World: Going beyond US Hegemony

Michael Kraig June 29, 2004
War and domestic political uncertainty have reigned in the Middle East during the past three decades. But one strategic reality has steadfastly evolved: the rise of the United States as an external guarantor of Gulf security. The continued presence of 138,000 US troops in Iraq after the formal handover of sovereignty is the latest reminder. However, while US military dominance may be...

Give the Transatlantic Alliance a Fresh Start

Charles Powell June 28, 2004
Transatlantic relations are in a "terminal" stage and must be mended, writes Charles Powell, former adviser on foreign affairs and defense to Margaret Thatcher. The transatlantic alliance once enjoyed great heights – especially during the cold war – but now differences over the Iraq War have cast doubt on the concept of ‘the West’ as a global leader. Currently politicians and laypeople...

Handover Advanced but Problems Remain

Paul Reynolds June 28, 2004
The unexpected early handover of sovereignty in Iraq may be a public relations coup for the US and the UK, but realities on the ground indicate that the road ahead is not easy. Although members of the new Iraqi government are claiming they are "ready", says this BBC article, they are in fact ill-prepared to deal with the challenges of government and the security threats that continue...