In The News

President Rewards Like-Minded World Leaders With State Visits

David E. Sanger May 28, 2003
U.S. President George W. Bush has used his Texas ranch for many world leaders' state visits. Now he has even had Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sit in on his highly classified morning intelligence briefing on global affairs and terrorist activities and given President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines special treatment as well. Japan has recently launched its first spy...

An Exodus Grows in Brooklyn

Michael Powell May 28, 2003
By all accounts, life as one knew it is over in New York City's Little Pakistan. Little Pakistan formed as an ethnic residential and business neighborhood of Pakistani immigrants in the early 1960s. In the decades that followed, the neighborhood transformed into a bustling center of Pakistani-ness, adding to the vitality of multicultural New York. As reported in this Washington Post...

The War on Terror Requires Subtler Weapons

Daniel Byman May 26, 2003
As the "war on terrorism" continues, the U.S. and its allies find it increasingly difficult to eradicate terrorist groups. With much of al-Qaeda's senior leadership still alive, and with new sites emerging as potential "training grounds" for terrorists in various corners of the world – Chechnya, Kashmir, the Chinese province of Xinjiang, Indonesia, etc. – it has become...

U.S. Eyes Pressing Uprising in Iran

Glenn Kessler May 25, 2003
After the bombings in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. has started contemplating plans to reform Iran in order to eliminate possible Al Qaeda links and Iran's own nuclear programs. While some Pentagon officials have supported the idea of a popular uprising to destabilize the current Iranian government, the State Department doubts the level of discontent within the country that is needed for such an...

Terrorism Needs 'New Definition'

Gwynne Dyer May 24, 2003
This opinion piece in the Jakarta Post by Gwynne Dyer, a columnist based in London, argues that "since we're going to have to live with it (terrorism) for a long time, we need to get both the numbers and the strategy into perspective." He notes that the numbers – 153 dead in one week from terrorist bomb attacks across the world – are nothing compared to the thousands who die every...

Amid the Leaks

Khaled Dawoud May 23, 2003
There is heated speculation and investigation around the recent bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. For the US, as this article shows, these bombings can have many implications. During its "war of Liberation" in Iraq, Al-Qaeda was believed to be relatively inactive, and the Bush administration recently commended itself for arresting key Al-Qaeda operatives. But confirmed and suspected...

Getting Our Bearings

Joan Johnson-Freese May 23, 2003
Human beings have occupied most of the inhabitable surface of the earth for tens of thousands of years, but only recently have we had the means to accurately determine where on Earth we actually are. The technology that supports this is one of a new breed of global utilities and, surprisingly enough, comes free - compliments of Uncle Sam. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology allows or...