In The News

Moscow Furious, Says US Not Pushing Drug War in Afghanistan

Fred Weir May 25, 2010
Perhaps better than anyone, veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan understand the challenges confronting NATO in its attempt to stabilize the region. But Russians express concern that more drugs from Afghanistan cross over their borders and those of former Soviet satellites. Russian authorities suggest that the drug trade is linked to terrorism and NATO could do more to control and destroy...

The Assimilated Terrorist: An Outsider No Longer

Jesse Washington May 14, 2010
As father, husband, financial analyst and US citizen, Faisal Shahzad surprised some profilers, amateur and professional, with his attempt to explode a car bomb in New York’s Times Square. With instant communication and complaints raging over the internet, “Globalization is competing fiercely with assimilation,” writes Jesse Washington for the Associated Press. “Blind to the faults of Islamic...

Black Hole on the Black Sea

Sharon Weinberger May 11, 2010
Stray nuclear weapons remain a grave concern for global security, and national leaders cannot afford to overlook any remote corner of the planet. South Ossetia, in northern Georgia, is a “jurisdictional black hole” with minimal border checkpoints, writes Sharon Weinberger for Foreign Policy. Separatist conflicts flare in the region, along with smuggling, corruption and plenty of fraudulent deals...

How To Get Rid of Nuclear Weapons

May 5, 2010
As signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty gather to review its forty years’ performance, the danger posed by nuclear weapons remains undiminished. Gareth Evans, Co-Chairman of an International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, interviewed by Nayan Chanda, Editor of YaleGlobal Online, discusses the threat and urgent tasks ahead for the international community...

NPT Review Faces Challenges as Iran Knocks on Door

Leonard S. Spector May 3, 2010
Threatening to build, possess or use nuclear weapons does not do much to win friends or influence neighbors, as the old saying goes, particularly as more nations acquire the bomb. More than 180 nations convene at the UN this month, starting today, to continue regular five-yearly review and negotiations aimed at reducing these weapons. Progress is slow because decisions at the UN conference on the...

Thailand’s Red Tide

Pavin Chachavalpongpun April 30, 2010
A 2006 coup forced popularly elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from office, abruptly ending his attempts to reform agriculture, education, taxation and other programs. Since then, protesters donning red shirts, led by the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, have rallied against the government, demanding new elections. Demonstrations have swelled since March,...

North Korea and Syria: A Warning in the Desert

Gregory L. Schulte April 28, 2010
Six-Party Talks began in 2003, with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US teaming up to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear-weapons ambition. Talks continued on and off with isolated North Korea, as it inched forward with its own nuclear development and clandestine export of nuclear material. One example of North Korea’s nuclear proliferation emerged in 2007 when Israeli bombers...