In The News

US-Pakistani Relations in Crisis – Part I

Richard Weitz January 3, 2012
For a decade, NATO forces have struggled to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat terrorist groups that were the source of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. The killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and growing tension between Washington and Islamabad further complicate the situation in Afghanistan. This YaleGlobal series analyzes the impact of the Afghan-Pakistani developments. Russian...

Neighbors Eye Iraq’s Sectarian Rift With Unease

Angus McDowall, Parisa Hafezi December 27, 2011
No one can say what might have eventually happened had the US not invaded Iraq and removed despot Saddam Hussein. Now shown the exit door by Iraqi leaders, US troops leave Iraq even as the entire Middle East is in tumult. In Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, Syria, and other countries, citizens seek representative governments, while politicians are bitterly divided over secular and Islamist policies, as...

Egypt: 10,000 March in Protest at Woman Dragged Half-Naked Through Street

December 26, 2011
A military loses credibility when it emphasizes power over security, turning on its own citizens – especially after abuses are documented and released over the internet for the world to see. About 10,000 women marched on the streets of Cairo to protest brutal treatment of female protesters. “Even before the protest was over, the military council issued an unusually strong statement of regret for...

Unreality Check: From Kim to Kim in North Korea

Philip Gourevitch December 22, 2011
North Korea is among the poorest nations in the world, enduring government mismanagement that emphasizes military spending, which leads to repeat famines and manipulated relief efforts. With the announcement of Kim Jong Il’s death, North Koreans engaged in a massive display of rote grief, orchestrated, filmed and released to western media and analyzed by Philip Gourevitch for the New Yorker. “To...

North Korea After Kim

Jayshree Bajoria December 20, 2011
With the death of North Korea’s dictator, speculation focuses on transfer of power and the fate of the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Much depends on whether successor Kim Jong-un can earn respect from North Korea’s military leaders. Military expenditures are estimated to represent about 25 percent of the nation’s GDP; about one fifth of North Koreans participate in the military. The...

Analysis: In Death, Kim Gives China a Dose of Dread

Chris Buckley, Ben Blanchard December 19, 2011
North Korea’s erratic, secretive dictator is dead. After years of unsuccessful international efforts to convince North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program, nations, including China, are worried about instability. North Korea’s 25 million people face ongoing food and energy shortages, and the regime has long depended on China for aid. Despite illness, Kim Jong-Il visited China, his country’s...

China-Based Hacking of 760 Companies Shows Cyber Cold War

Michael Riley, John Walcott December 16, 2011
US investigators have warned that hackers based in China allegedly infiltrated more than 700 companies, universities, government agencies and more. The hackers “specialize in infiltrating networks using phishing e-mails laden with spyware, often passing on the task of exfiltrating data to others,” explains an article in Bloomberg Businessweek. Targets “range from some of the largest corporations...