In The News

Ex-Arms Monitor Urges an Inquiry on Iraqi Threat

Richard W. Stevenson January 29, 2004
Dr. David Kay, who stepped down recently as the head of the Iraqi Survey Group, has announced that his organization has yet to find evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime indeed possessed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Instead, Kay expressed concern over the faulty intelligence that led the Bush Administration to justify a war against Saddam Hussein on the basis of such a program. The...

Thai PM Risks Losing Populist Touch

Tim Luard January 28, 2004
Thailand's prime minister may be the next victim of the avian bird flu - politically speaking, at least. After denying the disease was a problem for weeks, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra was forced to change his tune when it became apparent that thousands of small chicken growers - part of his political base - were going to lose livestock and perhaps even their own lives. Thaksin has proven his...

China: Controls Tighten as Internet Activism Grows

January 28, 2004
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International says that the world's most populous country is fighting a shameful battle against its own people. The Chinese government has implemented some of the most restrictive internet regulations in the world, banning Chinese web users from visiting certain foreign websites, and even suppressing speech and dissent on China-based websites. In less than a...

One Hand Clapping in the Caucasus

Kenneth Weisbrode January 26, 2004
As Georgia's newly elected president takes office this week, much of the world has high hopes for the future of his new government. Outsiders have been trying to influence developments in Georgia and neighboring Azerbaijan for some time now, says Eurasia scholar Kenneth Weisbrode, but if recent history is any indication, the path to stability in the Caucasus region is still quite rocky....

Turkey at the Crossroads

Mohammed Ayoob January 22, 2004
An Islamic party that supports Turkey's admission into the EU and the military that is lukewarm on troop deployment suggest paradoxes in Turkish politics. Mohammed Ayoob explains these paradoxes as the result of a general change in Turkey's political landscape and the particularities of the situation: the Kurdish insurgency has diminished, the military's influence has waned, and an...

An Ancient Model for China's New Power

Eric Teo Chu Cheow January 21, 2004
Asia is changing politically and culturally as a result of China's rise, says this article in the International Herald Tribune. Harkening back to the days of the Ming and Qing dynasties, China's recent approach to its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region emphasizes securing its immediate borders, placing itself as the 'heart' of the region, and giving more 'favors'...

Impatient Jobs

Seema Sirohi January 20, 2004
The IT industry has started to chime in on the outsourcing debate. A group of the top eight American IT companies recently commissioned a report in favor of outsourcing, arguing that countries which yield to protectionism end up stifling their own industries and innovation. The report also slams the US educational system for not producing enough qualified graduates in math and engineering. Soon...