In The News

Excluding Taiwan from the World’s View

Daniel Lynch March 3, 2003
Taiwan, though still unrecognized as a state internationally, has achieved economic success and democracy as other Asian countries have floundered. Yet China continues to talk of recovering Taiwan, and the UN will not use the country’s name. Daniel Lynch attributes this to China’s international wealth and power and the world’s acquiescence to the Chinese government’s bullying. He calls on the...

Summit Challenges

Ibrahim Nafie February 28, 2003
This opinion article in Egypt's Al-Ahram weekly says that the upcoming Arab summit must address two pressing issues: the impending war in Iraq and the plight of the Palestinians. The first issue requires a concerted effort on the part of Arab regimes to convince Saddam Hussein to comply with the weapons inspections to stave a war in the region. Solving the second issue, the plight of the...

President Bush’s Nation-Building

February 27, 2003
In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, President Bush announced plans for rebuilding Iraq in the wake of a war against Saddam Hussein. The plan would likely require hundreds of thousands of troops and years of occupation, not unlike the occupation of Japan and Germany after the Second World War. Turning Iraq into a democratic and peaceful nation would serve as a model for other...

N. Korea Flexes Military Muscle

Seo Hyun-jin February 27, 2003
North Korea's recent missile launch must be interpreted with care. Although Pyongyang gave forewarning of the launch to Japan, and similar missile launches have occurred during winter military drills, analysts believe that North Korea is sending a different message this time. This message has two possible interpretations. One is to notify the US of North Korea's military capabilities....

The Trans-Atlantic Aftershock of 9/11

Immanuel Wallerstein February 26, 2003
It has been long time in the making, but the debate over the wisdom of attacking Iraq has revealed how far apart the alliance forged after World War II has grown. In the past, despite reservations European countries may have had about specific US policies, they have tended to support the US because of shared security concerns. All that has changed with the rise of an economically strong and...

War for Peace? It Worked in My Country

José Ramos-Horta February 25, 2003
In this opinion article in The New York Times, José Ramos-Horta, East Timor's minister of foreign affairs and cooperation – and a man who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 – supports the possible use of force in removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. East Timor was only liberated from Indonesia, he writes, thanks to an international peacekeeping force. Although he urges the Bush...

Bush Faces Increasingly Poor Image Overseas

Glenn Kessler February 24, 2003
Whether it's because of his "cowboy" reputation, conservatism, or religious references, President Bush is not liked by much of the world. He's now being compared to Saddam Hussein-and some think that Bush might be a worse threat. Global protests against the war in Iraq on February 15th centered largely on anti-Bush slogans. Clearly the American administration still has a...