In The News

Truths and Consequences

Bruce B. Auster June 6, 2003
As the War on Iraq has come to an end and no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have yet been found, many people are now questioning the accuracy of American intelligence. In the past several months, says this article in the U.S. News and World Report, there have been heated discussions on how credible intelligence information is even within the U.S. government. The Vice-President and the hawks in...

Poor Show at Evian

David Tresilian June 6, 2003
The recent G-8 meeting in Evian, France attracted particular attention because it was the first time leaders of the west met after the U.S. war on Iraq. Also, in an effort to widen the scope of dialogue, for the first time, leaders from some developing countries were invited to attend the summit. Although the original agenda included major global issues such as access to water, the fight against...

Senators Demand Ban on Imports from Burma

Anwar Iqbal June 5, 2003
In the wake of the detainment of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the opposition party in Myanmar, two US senators are proposing a legislation to ban all imports from the country until it improves its record on human rights and democracy. If the bill passes, the US will join business and labor groups that have already united in support of sanctions. Already, many major...

The Arch of Globalization

Abdel-Moneim June 5, 2003
In the first installment of a two-part essay, Abdel-Moneim, director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Egypt, offers five possible genealogies of the US-led war in Iraq. First, he argues, the war was about opening up the Middle East to processes of globalization. Globalization has been uneven, affecting world regions and countries differently, and the Middle East is the...

U.S.-Thai Immunity Pact "Flouts Sovereignty"

June 5, 2003
The U.S. has launched a world-wide campaign to persuade countries to sign agreements that would protect U.S. citizens from international judicial prosecution. The Thai government, led by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has planned to join the list of 34 countries who have signed such an agreement with the U.S. But the Thai Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs is opposed to the Prime Minister...

Greening U.S. Foreign Aid through the Millennium Challenge Account

Nigel Purvis June 5, 2003
Last year, US President George W. Bush proposed the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) as part of his National Security Strategy report. With its goals to provide development assistance to certain developing countries, the MCA calls for an unprecedented increase in U.S. foreign aid. If the MCA is passed by congress, it will undoubtedly play a major role in fighting global poverty. However, says...

America's War on Terror Goes Awry in Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid June 4, 2003
Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia and Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, offers a scathing indictment of US foreign policy in South Asia, post-September 11. Rashid argues that US-led military action and victory in Afghanistan did not eradicate the Islamic fundamentalist ideology of the Taliban. Rather, Taliban's...