In The News

Request Stokes Debate Over Yale Student With a Taliban Past

Alan Finder May 8, 2006
Impoverished Afghanistan was racked by war for 10 years after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Sayed Rahmatulla Hashemi’s formal education ended with the fourth grade, and he learned English from aid workers. The brutal Taliban regime soon took control over the nation, and with minimal skills, Hashemi worked as a translator and then diplomat for the Office of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. After...

The Global News War

Marcel Rosenbach May 5, 2006
The terms used to describe media globalization rely on metaphors of war – as more countries realize that a strong media presence is as powerful as traditional diplomacy. More industry leaders and governments struggle to portray events with new perspectives and reach new audiences. Emerging networks include Aljazeera International, a French version of CNN, and a BBC Arabic channel. Several...

Daring to Use the Silver Screen to Reflect Saudi Society

Hassan M. Fattah May 2, 2006
Saudi Arabia has no legal movie theaters, but its filmmakers have a big budget and huge ambitions. The first Saudi Arabian feature film, funded by a Saudi prince and featuring a Saudi actress, portrays a family caught in a struggle between modernity and tradition. The film’s timing could be right, with Saudi women taking more public roles, pursuing education and opening companies without the...

East Asia’s Troubled Waters – Part III

William Underwood May 2, 2006
The bitterness from invasions and atrocities can last for generations, and international protocol calls for one-time aggressors to apologize for mistakes and extend some symbolic reparations, even if miniscule compared with the true costs of suffering. Before and during WWII, Imperial Japan invaded cities along the Asia Pacific coast, particularly north China, abducting young men to toil in...

American Indie Filmmakers: Thinking Globally and Acting Globally, Too

Dennis Lim May 1, 2006
National cinema has expanded into international cinema, with directors of all nationalities chafing at audience expectations for a certain style or theme. Directors who are first- or second-generation immigrants in the US push film boundaries to explore new settings and characters, often beyond their own ethnicity. Author Dennis Lim suggests that the directors “go beyond dutiful multiculturalism...

When It Comes to Political Islam, Moscow Seems Confused

Konstantin Eggart May 1, 2006
Moscow has a contradictory relationship with radical Islam. On one hand, Russia embraces Islam as part of its general, sometimes subtle, oppositional stance towards the West. After inviting a Hamas delegation to Moscow, Russia deflected accusations from Israel and the US – suggesting that the group had not conducted terrorist acts on Russian soil – eager to prove it does not tow the US, EU or...

Moment of Truth

Robert Scheer May 1, 2006
US polls cite illegal immigration a major concern, and politicians are divided over solutions. Yet the personal economic decisions by most US citizens tend to show more concern about low prices than protecting jobs or wages on the whole. Author Robert Scheer labels the so-called immigration “crisis” as fiction. Throughout history, whenever perceptions emerge about national security threats, low...