In The News

President Bush’s Nation-Building

February 27, 2003
In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, President Bush announced plans for rebuilding Iraq in the wake of a war against Saddam Hussein. The plan would likely require hundreds of thousands of troops and years of occupation, not unlike the occupation of Japan and Germany after the Second World War. Turning Iraq into a democratic and peaceful nation would serve as a model for other...

Pushing Saddam Against the Wall

Joe Clark February 27, 2003
While there is no clear consensus for invading Iraq, the international community agrees that Iraq must not be given any alternative to eliminating its banned weapons. Joe Clark, Canada’s 16th Prime Minister, and Alton Frye, Presidential Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argue that although France and the US are currently at odds about an invasion of Iraq, they can still work...

Inspection of Weapons of Mass Destruction Should Be Universal

Martin Shubik February 25, 2003
With world opinion turning against the planned US war against Iraq there is a crying need for the US to assure the international community that it is not seeking domination. Martin Shubik, a noted game theorist who has been a consultant to several American administrations, says the dangers to world civilization are far greater than most citizens appreciate. He advocates a whole new approach to...

Food First or Trade First?

Vandana Shiva February 25, 2003
Implementation of the WTO’s trade liberalization rules marginalizes and hurts developing countries, says this opinion article in The Hindu, one of India’s largest newspapers. Trade liberalization is designed to eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade, but developing countries cannot compete with foreign agricultural producers. The author further argues that developing countries should be...

Unaddressed Concerns

February 21, 2003
The global debate over a possible war in Iraq has occurred largely without the voice of the Indian government. The Indian Parliament has been largely silent on the subject, despite popular opposition to unilateral war and support for the role of the U.N. The government’s vagueness is unacceptable, this editorial in The Hindu argues. Furthermore, it says, with the opposition of France and...

The Righteous War

Immanuel Wallerstein February 15, 2003
What is really behind the Bush administration’s big push to wage war on Iraq? Is it about removing a tyrant hell-bent on using his weapons of mass destruction? Or is it a US move to gain more control over the oil resources in the Middle East? Sociologist theorist Immanuel Wallerstein argues that both of these interpretations are flawed. The motivation to go war, he says, is really about...

Poll Shows Most Want War Delay

Patrick E. Tyler February 14, 2003
With world powers squabbling over military action in Iraq, a new poll shows that President Bush may still have work to do to convince his own citizens that war is an immediate necessity. While a majority of Americans support military action against Iraq, 59% think that the United Nations should be given more time to carry out weapons inspections. And Americans continue to worry about the threat...