In The News

Hijacked Supertanker Underlines Our Energy Vulnerability

Michael G. Frodl February 17, 2009
Analysts once suggested that supertankers, a challenge to control, could not be taken by pirates. But pirates from desperate Somalia demonstrated that such pronouncements become just another challenge to be met, by managing to hijack a Saudi supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil. “Somalis turned the lack of an effective coast guard and police to their advantage to hijack ships and...

At Last, Justice Comes to Cambodia

Benny Widyono February 13, 2009
Cambodia suffered years of hurt, from French and Japanese occupation to American invasion and massive bombing. The end of the US war in 1975 opened an even grislier chapter in Cambodia’s history. The rise of the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot brought unprecedented misery as the regime emptied cities, torturing and executing the educated, imposing extreme policies that led to starvation, disease and...

Freed Guantánamo Prisoners Taunt US as Closure Plan Falls Apart

Tim Reid February 10, 2009
In his first week in office, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay. But other countries are not stepping forward to accept the prisoners, as reports emerge about former Guantánamo inmates charged with plotting new crimes. The US has ordered an evaluation of the inmates and continues to urge allies to accept some prisoners. Even US...

Whose Resistance?

Amr Hamzawy February 2, 2009
The plight of the Palestinian people fuels Muslim ire, boosting the popularity of non-state militants and non-militant religious groups alike. As a result, the Palestinians are sometimes seen as more symbol than humanity. Amr Hamzawy, with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, points to a decline of humanitarianism in the region, on the part of a brutal occupying force and on the part...

Europe Fears Civil Unrest

Peter O'Neil January 26, 2009
Angry street protests in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Iceland and other nations, combined with economic recession, have unnerved European leaders, who met to talk about how to handle civil unrest. An abrupt drop in living standards, high unemployment rates, loss of homes, vanishing savings could spur protests far more disruptive than those that shut down capitals in 1968. “A more apt comparison for...

NATO’s Double Standards Make for a Hollow Alliance

Alexander Melikishvili January 26, 2009
NATO increasingly confronts an existential crisis, reflected by three mutually reinforcing trends – inconsistent and fast-paced enlargement policy, problematic internal cohesion and inadequate military spending. Researcher Alexander Melikishvili offers cases that point to the challenges NATO faces: The separate quests by Albania and Georgia for NATO admission reveal inconsistent admission...

Gaza Explosions Reverberate in Europe

Shada Islam January 23, 2009
Israel invaded Gaza and waged war for 22 days, in response to Hamas firing a nonstop barrage of rockets over the border and refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist: 13 Israelis and 1,300 Palestinians died, and more than 50,000 people were left homeless. A tenuous ceasefire is in place, but the hard feelings and questions swirl far from the region. In Europe, thousands marched along the...