In The News

Border Security Merging

Jesse Bogan September 22, 2003
Coming into the US can be a confusing experience, with all different agencies competing to check your car for illegal immigrants, drugs, fruit, or terrorists. Now, in a move towards political expediency, the department of Homeland Security is moving to present "one face at the border" through a unified border patrol (CBP). Current immigration and agriculture officials are complaining...

Field of Tears

Jonathan Watts September 16, 2003
Although we cannot know whether Lee Kyung-hae intended to die when he stabbed himself in the heart at last week's WTO meeting in Cancun, people in his hometown see him as a hero who would have given his life to bring attention to the plight of South Korean farmers displaced by trade liberalization. Once a successful farmer and advocate of modern farmer techniques – he even received an award...

Iran, Sept. 11 and the Repercussions of ‘Regime Change'

Abumohammad Asgarkhani September 15, 2003
Iran stands increasingly big potential new target for America's fight against terrorism. As the US's new foreign policy—outlined after September 11th by the Bush administration—continues to take shape, Iran finds itself under (verbal) attack from the US and UK as a nation with a radical government, nuclear dreams, and a strong regional presence. Whether or not fears of Iranian power...

Rich-Poor Rift Triggers Collapse of Trade Talks

Kevin Sullivan September 15, 2003
Representatives from developing countries walked out of WTO trade talks this weekend in Cancun, claiming that the United States and European Union (EU) countries were unwilling to negotiate the reduction of agricultural subsidies. Many states from Latin America and Africa consider the $3 billion of subsidies provided by wealthier countries to their farmers to be a de facto "dumping"...

Why America Still Can't Find Osama bin Laden

David Rohde September 14, 2003
Osama bin Laden, thought to be still alive and well, remains a dark spot on America's 'fight against terrorism' record. Officials from Pakistan and the United States seem certain that bin Laden has found strong support in areas of Northwestern Pakistan, a region that shares tribal associations with Afghanistan and where no Pakistani army had ever gone before December 2001. With a...

Two Years Later, a Thousand Years Ago

Robert Wright September 11, 2003
Until September 11, some viewed the globalization of American values in terms of a manifest destiny. However, on 9/11 nineteen hijackers "turned the tools of globalization against the system" and blew that view to pieces. Two years later, skepticism about globalization's benefits still persists. For evidence, one need only notice that anti-American terror networks still abound,...

Who's Winning the War on Terror?

Ahmed Rashid September 5, 2003
Two years after the September 11 attacks on the US, the American-led war on terror is far from over. Writing from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, veteran journalist and author Ahmed Rashid says that the Taliban is growing in strength, drawing support from Islamic extremists and tribal brethren in Pakistan. US forces and the Afghan soldiers they've trained are under persistent attack from...