In The News

Chinese President Xi Jinping Expresses Concern Over North Korea’s Rhetoric

William Wan April 10, 2013
Global consensus is that China holds the most leverage over the Kim regime. As tensions rise, the international community follows every word from top leaders, especially those in China. While not specifically mentioning North Korea, President Xi Jinping noted, “No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains.” International scrutiny should...

To Lift Afghan Women, Educate All

Susan Froetschel April 8, 2013
As NATO plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, stability is in doubt for a country with inept governance and stubborn opposition from an obscurantist group. Crime reports from Afghanistan suggest the Taliban are waging attacks on police and schools, including the recent attack on a convoy delivering school textbooks, which killed a young US State Department staffer. NGOs and diplomats, often...

WMD Proliferation Threatens the World

Carol E. B. Choksy, Jamsheed K. Choksy April 5, 2013
Forces battling in Syria accuse each other of discharging chemical weapons; the United States and North Korea shift equipment about, raising the threat of nuclear exchange. The globe has many accords to curtail weapons of mass destruction. Yet most are “are trumped by influence-peddling, profit-seeking and ideology-spreading considerations,” explain Carol E.B. Choksy and Jamsheed K. Choksy, who...

The Korean Crisis: Kim’s Dangerous Game

Evan Osnos April 2, 2013
Threats by North Korea against the United States and South Korea are more intense than in the past, suggests a blog by the New Yorker’s China correspondent. “In barely three months, North Korea has launched long-range rockets, conducted an underground nuclear test, signalled its withdrawal from the 1953 Korean armistice, and threatened a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States,”...

Should South Korea Pursue Nuclear Arms?

Bennett Ramberg March 29, 2013
South Korea and the United States confront a dilemma in responding to erratic threats from impoverished, nuclear-armed North Korea. South Korea ranks among the top 15 largest economies, while the North is dysfunctional. In recent weeks North Korea has test-launched a long-range missile, criticized China’s response to the launch, severed all communications with South Korea, and threatened...

No Shift in Iran's Nuclear Behavior, Despite Sanctions

Joby Warrick, Anne Gearan March 21, 2013
Sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy, but may have also strengthened leaders’ resolve to defy the US and Europe by pursuing a uranium-enrichment program. “[H]ardships have not triggered significant domestic protests or produced a single concession by Iran on its nuclear program,” report Joby Warrick and Anne Gearan for the Washington Post. “Although weakened, Iran has resisted Western...

EU Fails to Speak With One Voice on Syria

Joshua Chaffin March 19, 2013
The Syrian rebels are outgunned and the bloodshed continues. European leaders have disagreed how to bring the civil war in Syria to swift, humane conclusion. France and Britain want to end an arms embargo for opposition groups, particularly moderates; Germany resists. A compromise emerged Monday, with the EU allowing security advice, but not actual arms transfer. Such arguments underscore the...