In The News

How to Deal With NGOs – Part I, China

Paul Mooney August 1, 2006
Both China and Russia sat up and took notice of the role played by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the political unrest and subsequent color revolutions in Georgia, the Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. This two-part series examines the two governments’ responses to NGO activity within their borders. China dispatched intelligence officers to research the NGO role in Central Asia and also conduct...

A New Middle East, or Rice’s Fantasy Ride?

Rami G. Khouri July 31, 2006
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the escalating violence between Lebanon and Israel as “birth pangs of a new Middle East.” The US has vested interests in its support of Israel, and its alliances with Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as the eventual eradication of Islamic Jihadist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. However, columnist Rami G. Khouri for...

China’s Nomads Trade Up for an Easier Ride on the Range

Jim Yardley July 31, 2006
High up in the mountains of the Qinghai Province in China, the nomads who populate the region have switched from horses to motorcycles for transportation. The shift has a practical basis, with nomads moving tents and herding yaks and sheep back and forth between winter and summer pastures. Since the late 1980s, the herders no longer had to sell their animals at set prices to the government and...

New Conflicts in an Old War

James Carroll July 25, 2006
Israel’s expanding conflict with the Muslim world may have forced many observers into a frustrated state of ambivalence. Yet “Boston Globe” columnist James Carroll urges onlookers to examine the larger context of Islamist extremism. Israel confronts extraordinary violence from Hezbollah and Hamas, and constant battling with such forces push the country into a warlike state. Carroll warns readers...

Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online

Keith Bradsher July 24, 2006
The Hong Kong government has unveiled a plan to use 200,000 young people from organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides as watchdogs for internet copyright infringement. Many civil liberties advocates question the use of teenagers in state-sponsored law enforcement. While Hong Kong authorities claim that the program encourages good citizenship among a population with a high rate of...

Even Statelessness Goes Better With Coke. Or Does It?

Marc Lacey July 19, 2006
In 2004, local investors – carefully chosen to represent the various clans of Somalia – opened a Coca-Cola bottling plant in the capital city of Mogadishu. Since then, Islamic militias have taken control of the government, and Somalia’s investment scene has changed substantially for those who want to sell an American brand of soda. The militias brought unprecedented levels of security, greatly...

Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online

Keith Bradsher July 18, 2006
The Hong Kong government has unveiled a plan to use 200,000 young people from organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides as watchdogs for internet copyright infringement. Many civil liberties advocates question the use of teenagers in state-sponsored law enforcement. While Hong Kong authorities claim that the program encourages good citizenship among a population with a high rate of...