In The News

S. Koreans Search Far and Wide for a Wife

Barbara Demick September 25, 2006
Tens of thousands of South Korean men look to China, Vietnam and beyond for wives, in response to a shortage of brides caused by a generation of gender-selective births. Since ultrasounds became widely available in the 1980s, parents in South Korea could screen out undesirable daughters, resulting in a gender imbalance of 113 males for every 100 females. The countryside’s shortage of marriage-...

China’s Neighbors Worry About its Growing Military Strength

September 22, 2006
The latest poll by the Pew Research Center reveals an intense distrust in Asia, not only between traditional rivals like Japan and China, but also between China and India as well as Japan and Pakistan. The public opinion survey, part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, was conducted in China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, and the US. Its results confirm that Chinese hostility toward Japan...

Unearthing Pope’s Real Message

Nazry Bahrawi September 22, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to echo a Byzantine emperor’s attack on Islam and its perceived violence struck a raw nerve with many Muslims, but editor Nazry Bahrawi argues that Muslims need to promote a calm and rational form of Islam. Aggrieved Muslims could take cues from Christians who objected to novel, “The Da Vinci Code” – which challenged the foundations of Christianity by suggesting that...

The Jihad and the West – Part I

Riaz Hassan September 21, 2006
Before defining or reacting to the word “jihad,” the meaning must be considered in its historical context. This two-part series debates the meaning and role of “jihad” in a modern global society. In Part I, sociologist Riaz Hassan cautions that any interpretation that dismisses jihad as merely a violent manifestation of religious fanaticism strips the term of its complexity. Throughout history,...

What Went Wrong With the Dialogue Between Cultures?

Traugott Schoefthaler September 21, 2006
Cultural diversity in and of itself has value, and yet cultures continue to clash about which cultural practices work best for the world. Mutual respect for differences, along with language that can address those differences, is required in a civil world, argues author Traugott Schoefthaler. More than a billion Muslims throughout the world remain frustrated, questioning why Western values often...

Pope “Sorry” About Reaction to Islam Remark

Alan Cooperman September 18, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI issued a rare apology for comments that spurred angry reactions from Muslims around the world, but the Vatican reiterates its opposition to any violence in the name of religion. Extremists reacted to the comments with church bombings in the West Bank and Gaza and the murder of a nun who worked in a Somali children’s hospital. In his lecture, the pope had called attention to a...

In Iran, a Surprising, Confounding World

David Ignatius September 13, 2006
The Iranian revolution took place nearly 30 years ago, and since then, Iran has become one of the major drivers of Middle Eastern affairs. The rhetoric and actions of many of its leaders, however, remain mired in the brinksmanship of the revolutionary period. Yet journalist David Ignatius cautions that, despite the international attention bestowed on Iran’s president, the country has no one...