In The News

U.S. Eyes Pressing Uprising in Iran

Glenn Kessler May 25, 2003
After the bombings in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. has started contemplating plans to reform Iran in order to eliminate possible Al Qaeda links and Iran's own nuclear programs. While some Pentagon officials have supported the idea of a popular uprising to destabilize the current Iranian government, the State Department doubts the level of discontent within the country that is needed for such an...

Terrorism Needs 'New Definition'

Gwynne Dyer May 24, 2003
This opinion piece in the Jakarta Post by Gwynne Dyer, a columnist based in London, argues that "since we're going to have to live with it (terrorism) for a long time, we need to get both the numbers and the strategy into perspective." He notes that the numbers – 153 dead in one week from terrorist bomb attacks across the world – are nothing compared to the thousands who die every...

Amid the Leaks

Khaled Dawoud May 23, 2003
There is heated speculation and investigation around the recent bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. For the US, as this article shows, these bombings can have many implications. During its "war of Liberation" in Iraq, Al-Qaeda was believed to be relatively inactive, and the Bush administration recently commended itself for arresting key Al-Qaeda operatives. But confirmed and suspected...

US Imposes New Sanctions on China

May 23, 2003
Even though the new US embargo is not the first of its kind against China, it is the biggest in scope and it comes only a week before the two countries’ leaders meet in Russia. China sold weapons to Iran during its conflict with Iraq in the 80’s, but the US says a more recent arms sale breaks a weapons proliferation agreement reached between the US and China in 2000. The trade sanctions are...

Getting Our Bearings

Joan Johnson-Freese May 23, 2003
Human beings have occupied most of the inhabitable surface of the earth for tens of thousands of years, but only recently have we had the means to accurately determine where on Earth we actually are. The technology that supports this is one of a new breed of global utilities and, surprisingly enough, comes free - compliments of Uncle Sam. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology allows or...

We've Seen This Situation Before

Mark Turner May 21, 2003
Almost a decade ago half a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred in Rwanda through a "state-sponsored genocide." Recent reports of ethnic killings in the northeastern part of Congo have international observers fearing a repeat of Rwanda. But this time the UN seems determined not to have the international community be mere bystanders, and already efforts to form a sizeable...

North Korea Is Said to Export Drugs to Get Foreign Currency

James Dao May 21, 2003
In order to increase the country's foreign currency reserves, North Korea has been exporting large quantities of drugs to foreign countries, a North Korean defector told lawmakers in Washington, DC. American intelligence officials believe that a big proportion of the money has been used to finance the country's nuclear programs, as well as production of traditional weapons, which...