In The News

America in Africa: Addressing a Mix of Islam and Oil

Ricardo Rene Laremont February 6, 2007
Amidst the lingering turbulence in the Middle East, US policymakers look to Africa as an alternative source of petroleum. Washington has launched military training operations in a number of African nations in an effort to combat Islamic terrorism and secure oil supplies. While there is no doubt that such military investments are necessary in the post-9/11 world, Ricardo Rene Laremont expresses...

With Iran Ascendant, US Is Seen at Fault

Anthony Shadid January 31, 2007
The US invasion of Iraq four years ago was supposed to spread democracy throughout the Middle East – not strengthen Iran. Arab allies to the US resent Iran’s growing influence in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran is one of the few Shiite-dominated nations in a world where almost 9 out of every 10 Muslims are Sunnis. Much of the violence in Iraq stems from bitter conflict between the...

Smuggler’s Plot Highlights Fear Over Uranium

Lawrence Scott Sheets January 26, 2007
Officials in Georgia, a former Soviet republic, have arrested people carrying around uranium samples in garbage bags – and involved US officials in their investigations. Defying security measures imposed on such nuclear material, the sellers seek interested buyers. Terrorist groups and even some insecure nations would be willing to pay hefty amounts for the ingredients of a nuclear weapon,...

The Not So United Nations

Richard N. Haass January 25, 2007
The UN has not accomplished much in recent years, but only because the major powers cannot agree, refusing to act on pressing global problems. Instead, powerful nations balk at coordinating action on genocide in Darfur, global warming or violence in the Middle East. “The UN reflects the ability of the major powers to agree – and to back up their agreements with resources,” writes Richard Haass,...

Russian Court Backs Closing of Chechen Rights Group

Peter Finn January 25, 2007
Authorities sometimes regard activism as extremism, especially when groups criticize government policy. Russian authorities put a stop to the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, after the group reprinted statements by Chechen separatists, linked to the mass school killing in 2004. The group is funded by organizations based in the West, and Russia has passed laws prohibiting anyone convicted of...

Ahmadinejad's Flare Amps Up Tensions

William Pfaff January 24, 2007
In devising foreign policy, governments must strive to understand differences and similarities in the structures of other governments. For example, the US and Israel err in assuming that Iran’s president has as much power as the US president, cautions author William Pfaff. Another err would be using Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s defiance as an excuse for invading Iran. Such an attack is anticipated as...

Diplomacy as Afterthought Wins US Few Mideast Converts

Fawaz A. Gerges January 23, 2007
One can sympathize with the Bush administration’s desire to shift gears in the Middle East, from merely reacting to Iraq’s instability to actively pushing for peace in the region. Author and Mideast scholar Fawaz Gerges sees Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s diplomatic mission, however, as a case of too little, too late. Moderate Arab governments offer hollow words of support for the US in...