In The News

Dealing With Nuclear North Korea

Bennett Ramberg January 10, 2011
North Korea’s newly revealed uranium-enrichment program continues to advance. No amount of sticks or carrots – negotiations, incentives, sanctions, waiting for the regime to fall – has slowed the North’s determination in building its nuclear arsenal, writes author and nuclear expert Bennett Ramberg. Dealing with a state that’s otherwise undeveloped, isolated and paranoid remains a leading source...

A Tale of Two Ports

Christophe Jaffrelot January 7, 2011
A common strategy in geopolitical rivalries is to accrue alliances, strengthen positions and counter competitors. Of course, Asia is rich with historic rivalries: India and China, Pakistan and India, Iran and Pakistan, Iran and the US, the US and China. Two ports in the Arabian Sea, one in Iran and another Pakistan, demonstrate an emerging contest for power in the Arabian Sea, explains...

UN Body Warns of “Food Price Shock”

Javier Blas January 7, 2011
Increasing food prices remain a political challenge for India, China and even developed nations. The benchmark index of agricultural commodities prices, provided by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, reached a nominal record in December, “surpassing the levels of the 2007-08 food crisis,” reports Javier Blas for the Financial Times. The FAO Committee on World Food...

Monitoring America

Dana Priest, William M. Arkin December 30, 2010
The US is assembling a vast data collection on its citizens, including those who haven’t committed crimes, relying on the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military investigators, report Dana Priest and William Arkin in an investigation for the Washington Post. One agent describes the process as looking for “dots” to connect. The Department of Homeland Security has provided...

WikiLeaks Poses Legal Challenges for US Prosecutors

Kate Woodsome December 27, 2010
At the start of 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heralded internet freedom as a top foreign policy concern. But the website WikiLeaks released a series of embarrassing military and diplomatic cables, and the US restricts its employees from reading documents readily available throughout the world. US analysts and researchers are at a disadvantage with foreign counterparts who can review...

After Disputed Ivory Coast Election, Africa Tries to Break a Bloody Cycle

Vivienne Walt December 27, 2010
It’s an old story of leaders clinging to power, if not popularity, and ignoring election results. But increasingly, global media and observers rage against the election disputes and subsequent violence. “President Laurent Gbagbo has simply refused to accept the verdict of the electorate in the Nov. 28 runoff election won by his opponent, Alassane Ouattara,” reports Vivienne Wald for Time Magazine...

The Post-WikiLeaks World – Part I

Jamsheed K. Choksy December 15, 2010
Behind closed doors, government officials often relay sentiments that differ from public proclamations, and the public takes this for granted. But release of classified US State Department cables via WikiLeaks has exposed hundreds of specific examples, shocking in their rawness. The release underlines the promises and perils of fast global communications. It is a world where an individual can...