In The News

Attackers United by Piety in Plot to Strike Troops

Anthony Shadid September 20, 2003
Cassettes of a Syrian cleric, whose violent words used to be outlawed under Saddam Hussein's secular regime, sell freely on the post-war streets, and - more frighteningly - there's a growing audience willing to listen. Islamic extremism, which is denounced by most religious leaders as against the peaceful precepts of true Islam, is becoming increasingly appealing to angry Iraqis who...

Pressuring Tehran

Mustafa El-Labbad September 19, 2003
Iran has come under increasing pressure since Washington officially ended its war in Iraq and turned its eye on other countries in the region. Now, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear monitoring body, has passed a resolution giving Iran until October to declare the extent of its nuclear program and sign the Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation...

Bold Action Can Still Save Doha Round

Clyde Prestowitz September 19, 2003
With the collapse of the WTO trade talks last week, things do not bode well for the Doha Round – planned specifically to help developing countries – or for the global trading system in general. Former Reagan administration trade negotiator Clyde Prestowitz says, however, that in one simple unilateral move the US could earn enormous global goodwill and save the floundering world trading system....

Our War With France

Thomas L. Friedman September 18, 2003
"France is not just our annoying ally," asserts Thomas Friedman in this opinion piece for The New York Times. "France is becoming our enemy." By advocating a hasty transfer of power to a symbolic Iraqi sovereignty, France seems bent on US failure in Iraq. If the French government truly wished to see the US succeed in Iraq, Friedman argues, it would use its influence in the...

China Joins the Global Economy - Part Two

Deborah Davis September 17, 2003
In part one of this 2-part series, David Zweig explained the processes by which China joined the global economy. In part two, China scholar Deborah Davis discusses the prospects for China's continued economic growth. While incomes have improved and everyone's boat has risen, Davis says, so has the country's once-low income inequality. Increased differences in wealth, as well as...

Concern over GM Papayas Raised by Jao

Chiu Yu-Tzu September 16, 2003
Genetically modified foods are not only causing a stink in the US, Europe, and Africa. In Taiwan, legislators and environmentalists are crying foul over the discovery of two GM papaya plants found growing outside of an experimental field. One environmental activist argues that "the government should immediately launch a safety assessment regarding GM papayas," citing a US case in...

Iran, Sept. 11 and the Repercussions of ‘Regime Change'

Abumohammad Asgarkhani September 15, 2003
Iran stands increasingly big potential new target for America's fight against terrorism. As the US's new foreign policy—outlined after September 11th by the Bush administration—continues to take shape, Iran finds itself under (verbal) attack from the US and UK as a nation with a radical government, nuclear dreams, and a strong regional presence. Whether or not fears of Iranian power...