In The News

Will US Patience Bring Success in Afghanistan and Iran?

David Ignatius August 23, 2010
Some foreign policy knots untangle on their own over time while others require immediate tugging. Discerning which is which has been a problem for the US, suggests David Ignatius in an opinion essay for the Daily Star. “Patience plus” in the globe’s trouble spots, he explains, requires immediate, widespread, active diplomacy. Direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, scheduled for...

Cluster Bomb Ban Takes Effect

August 16, 2010
In an increasingly connected world, improved security and protection of human rights are jointly pursued through international laws. The Convention on Cluster Munitions became a binding international law on August 1, 2010. The convention – signed by 107 countries and ratified by 37 – bans the use, production and trade of cluster munitions. The US, Israel and Russia – which have used the...

As Some Young Muslims Turn to Radicalism, Concern Grows

Souad Mekhennet August 10, 2010
Muslim parents in Germany are increasingly alarmed over online recruitment efforts by extremists with German-language videos. German security officials estimate that, since the 1990s, fewer than 200 young Germans have traveled to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region to join groups affiliated with Al Qaeda or the Taliban, according to a report by Souad Mekhennet for the New York Times. With...

Gaza: The Silver Lining?

Gustav Ranis August 5, 2010
The Israeli-Palestinian divide is so deep and the world has so many pressing economic and security challenges, it’s no surprise that many foreign-policy experts put the Middle East low on any US priority list. But the longstanding plight of millions of Palestinians in the occupied zones reverberates and captures attention far beyond the region, explains Yale professor Gustav Ranis. Organizing aid...

Maoist Insurgency Trips Up Rising India

Eric Randolph July 29, 2010
Enjoying rapid growth, India looks to make use of rich mineral holdings in its eastern states. But the rural poor and tribal people living near these deposits have been deprived of their rights and often oppressed by corrupt officials in cahoots with developers, explains journalist Eric Randolph. About 40 percent of India’s majority rural population lives in poverty but cell phones and...

The Whistleblowers: Is WikiLeaks a Blessing or Curse for Democracy?

John Goetz, Marcel Rosenbach July 29, 2010
Wikileaks posted more than 91,000 internal US military documents online – unleashing debate about an unpopular war, secrecy and media, technology, whistle-blowing, and whether the release is courageous exposure or a dire security threat. WikiLeaks.org publishes leaked documents deemed secret by companies and governments. Documents titled the Afghan War Diary are archived into 100 categories as...

Obama’s America and the World: A Promise at Risk

Strobe Talbott July 20, 2010
Disappointment swelling since Barack Obama’s election isn’t limited to his domestic opposition – it also runs deep among progressives who long for the US president to move swiftly on stirring campaign promises. Obama entered office with a horrendous legacy, a list longer than that encountered by previous US presidents: ongoing Middle East conflict, hemorrhaging Afghan war, North Korea’s and Iran’...