In The News

Turkey: EU Reports Pave Way for Qualified Approval of Entry Talks

Ahto Lobjakas October 4, 2004
For over a decade, Turkey has tried to force the issue of its accession into the European Union (EU) onto the agenda of the European Commission. With the recent release of two draft progress reports, serious discussions seem imminent. While the reports laud the country's social and political reforms, Turkey still fails to meet certain entry requirements. At issue are the country's...

Back to Bases

Justin McCurry September 28, 2004
More than a simple holdover from World War II, US troops currently stationed in Japan are a security measure against possible regional conflicts in the Taiwan Strait or in Korea. Civilian residents of Okinawa, home of the largest military base, have long protested the intrusion on their daily life. Recent incidents, including the rape of a young girl by US servicemen and an accidental helicopter...

Tremors of Global Insecurity Reach Shangri-La

Kesang Sherpa September 27, 2004
As the South Asian nation of Nepal has seen, the forces of globalization may be both a blessing and a curse. While open borders helped to develop trade, manufacturing, and tourism as the country's economic pillars, a Maoist insurgency has devastated the country in recent years. Amidst this social and financial crisis, Nepali workers overseas now bear the onus of supporting Nepal's...

Shanghai Cooperation Organization Signs Agreement in Bishkek

Valentinas Mite September 25, 2004
Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the Bush administration's strategic interest in Central Asia has grown significantly. The region now represents another arena in which the "war on terror" must be waged. Yet the growing influence of the US in Central Asia has alarmed Russia and China, who consider the region their backyard. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),...

Even Near Home, a New Front Is Opening in the Terror Battle

Eric Lipton September 23, 2004
Website hosting companies in the US have become the unwitting carriers of terrorist information. Since web postings are hard to trace and can be removed at will, many terrorist groups now use the internet to disseminate information, including specific instructions for carrying out kidnappings and bombings. US prosecutors have begun a controversial campaign to track down - via hosting companies...

Still No Votes in Leipzig

Jonathan Freedland September 22, 2004
When Bob Dole was running for US President, he once dismissed a Finnish reporter's questions of by saying, "No votes in Leipzig." Dole's sense of geography may have been lacking, but his sense of who was important to his campaign was, at the time, perfectly on target: Only American voters' opinions would count come Election Day 1996. Back then, only Americans bore the...

Iran on the Brink

Henry Sokolski September 22, 2004
World leaders continue to debate the most effective way to prevent development of Iran's nuclear arsenal. Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, argues that the international community must now also address an even more ominous threat of nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East. This will require instituting - and enforcing - strict rules...