In The News

U.S. Troops Fire on Iraqi Protesters, Leaving 15 Dead

Ian Fisher April 29, 2003
Violent clashes between American troops and Iraqis continue even as the United States moves from a military offensive to a humanitarian and reconstruction phase in Iraq. According to a US official account, a group of mostly armed Iraqis began unprovoked fire at the US troops who were stationed at the US Army headquarters in a largely Sunni neighborhood. US troops returned fire in self defense...

When Diplomacy Flunks

Ernesto Zedillo April 28, 2003
Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico and current Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, discusses his hopes and fears in light of US unilateral action in Iraq. He fears that this war will be a prologue to a new international order defined by aggressive US unipolarity. If this is the case, he says, “Sooner rather than later, even old friends acting alone, or perhaps...

SARS: Wake-Up Call for a Strong Global Health Policy

Ilona Kickbusch April 25, 2003
As the economic consequences of Sars become more and more apparent, countries are scrambling for solutions. However, argues Ilona Kickbusch, Professor of Global Health at Yale University's School of Public Health, individual nation-states are unequipped to manage something like Sars by themselves. In an interconnected world, we must acknowledge the truly global nature of public health, and...

Ya Hussein

Omayma Abdel-Latif April 24, 2003
While the US envisions a secular government for reconstructed Iraq, Iraq’s two Islamic sects – Shi’a and Sunni – have called for an 'Islamic state'. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of Shi’a Muslims assembled in Karbala recently to demonstrate their faith and condemn the American presence in Iraq. Tension between the Iraqi religious establishment and the occupation forces is high; Sunni...

'Worse than 1967'

Amira Howeidy April 23, 2003
Twenty-nine Egyptian intellectuals have protested Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s statement that Saddam Hussein was the cause of the American invasion of Iraq. Instead, this disparate group of thinkers have offered other reasons for the war—the inherent weakness of authoritarian governments, the need for political liberalization in some Arab states, or even the ‘fall’ of Arab power after the...

Garner’s Challenge

April 22, 2003
Iraq’s post-war administration, led by former American General Jay Garner, faces difficult domestic and international political challenges as Iraq begins to rebuild. In addition to handling immediate problems such as providing basic services and keeping order, the administration must address potential religious conflict between Sunni Muslims and the Shia majority, as well as international...

Iraq War Ends, Not Europe's Acrimony with the US

Shada Islam April 15, 2003
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spain's Jose Maria Aznar have joined France and Germany in demanding that the United Nations play the central role in administering and rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq. Not only does the UN have the experience and the expertise to handle Iraq's reconstruction, it is the only body with a legal mandate to do so. UN oversight, EU leaders argue, will be...