In The News

Jihad in Nigeria: Past Lives On

Lamin Sanneh April 29, 2014
Boko Haram, a Salafist extremist group continues to terrorize northern Nigeria in a quest for a strict Islamist state. A bomb killed 75 in Abuja, April 14, followed the next day by the kidnapping of more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok. The group’s Arabic name suggests intention to wage jihad. But violence and coercion belie the meaning of jihad – a struggle against unbelief, mainly within...

Palestinian Agreement on Unity Government Troubles Israel, US

Ahmed Abuhamda and Nicholas Casey April 25, 2014
Palestine factions plan a unity government, and United States and Israel argue the move undermines peace talks shepherded by US Secretary of State John Kerry. The West Bank has been controlled by Fatah and Gaza Strip by Hamas, a group committed to the destruction of Israel. The Israeli prime minister canceled a meeting of peace negotiators and Hamas reported Israel fired rockets into the Gaza...

Obama’s Asian Allies Need to Give Something Back

Clyde Prestowitz April 25, 2014
The United States makes commitments to foreign allies, but cannot promise how firm the US electorate and future administrations will be in honoring those commitments. The Obama’s US pivot to Asia as a strategy focused on the populous Asia, including China, and opportunity for trade, while maintaining a security presence to protect that trade. US citizens and allies wonder if the United States is...

Global Food Security: Debunking the “China Threat” Narrative

Zhang Hongzhou April 24, 2014
In assessing food security, analysts point to two challenges – climate change along with rising demand in China. Zhang Hongzhou, associate research fellow with the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, argues that “playing up the China threat narrative is rather misguided and unhelpful to global food security.” Food self-sufficiency is not an option for growing...

The West’s Financial Arsenal

Harold James April 23, 2014
After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, pro-Russian militants continue efforts to occupy public buildings in Eastern Ukraine and destabilize an interim government. “Putin is attempting to boost Russia’s appeal by doubling Crimeans’ pensions, boosting the salaries of the region’s 200,000 civil servants, and constructing large, Sochi-style infrastructure,” explains history professor Harold James for...

Is Bangladesh’s Foreign Policy Becoming India- and Russia-Centric?

Harun ur Rashid April 18, 2014
Votes at the UN General Assembly reveal foreign-policy objectives and concerns. In March, Bangladesh, China and India along with 55 other nations abstained on a resolution suggesting Russia’s annexation of Crimea was illegal. “Dhaka claims that Bangladesh abstained because the country did not wish to get involved in the new cold war between Russia and the US because it is a strong believer of the...

“Partner for Russia”: Europe's Far Right Flirts With Moscow

Charles Hawley April 16, 2014
Members of the far right want to put a chokehold on government power in Europe, a goal shared by Russia. “Skepticism of immigration and a keen worry about the threat posed by Islamist extremism make Putin a natural ally for a xenophobic right whose political bread and butter is their vociferous attacks on European immigration policy,” reports Charles Hawley for Spiegel Online. “His heavy-handed...