In The News

Growing Vulnerability of Seaports from Terror Attacks

Michael Richardson March 5, 2004
Global trade is heavily dependent on shipping, with hundreds of port cities worldwide offering open doors to goods from other countries. Unfortunately, writes Michael Richardson, this same openness allows terrorists the possibility of bringing into the target country devastating means of attack – from high-explosives to radiological bombs, even nuclear devices. Al-Qaeda used a cargo vessel to...

Bush Signals Patience on North Korea is Waning

Glenn Kessler March 4, 2004
Proof of "complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement" (CVID) of North Korea's nuclear weapons programs is what President Bush and his team of aides wanted for last week's six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis. But given North Korea's intransigence on the subject, that wish failed to come true as the talks finished, and it may not be realized for...

Bush Envoy Briefs Panel After Talks on A-Bombs

David E. Sanger March 3, 2004
More insights into North Korea's nuclear program were offered to the US Senate this week by James A. Kelly, President Bush's chief negotiator at the 6-way talks just concluded in Beijing. In his testimony, Kelly suggested that North Korea may have been working to produce new atomic bombs even while negotiating with the US on the possibility of suspending its program. Kelly also said...

Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order

G. John Ikenberry March 2, 2004
From an unprecedented era of global power to a soon-to-be realized decline, five new books on American empire run the gamut of explaining and forecasting the long-term possibilities of American power. In this review for Foreign Affairs, G. John Ikenberry notes where each author gets his analysis correct, but he also suggests what they fail to see. All describe America as an empire, but that...

Nuke Quarantine

Amir Mir February 26, 2004
The United States government is placing pressure on Pakistan to allow an inspection of its nuclear arsenal, and to put into place, a joint Pakistan-US monitoring mechanism. The American pressure follows the recent disclosure of a Pakistan based global network that supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Pakistan, a vital ally in the US led war against global terrorism, needs...

If We Go, Let's Stay Until Job Is Done

Joseph L. Galloway February 25, 2004
With US nation-building efforts underway in Afghanistan and Iraq, can Washington afford to sink money, time, and human resources into yet another foreign country? For the sake of over 7 million Haitians, says this Miami Herald commentary, once the political will is mustered, the answer should be 'Yes'. Despite having attempted three times in the 20th century to build a stable Haiti,...

The Fallout of Pakistani Revelations on North Korea

Phillip C. Saunders February 23, 2004
North Korean nuclear programs have long been a puzzle for the international intelligence community to solve. No one is quite sure when they started, how they started, or how far along towards producing weapons-grade uranium and plutonium they are. The recent revelation by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan that he sold technology to the North Koreans could begin to unravel the mystery. Talks this...