In The News

Across Arab World, a Widening Rift

Anthony Shadid February 14, 2007
In many Muslim nations, Sunni and Shiites live and work together as neighbors, and so the growing sectarian conflict in Iraq is unsettling for Muslim nations like Egypt. The divide between Sunnis and Shiites dates back to a disagreement in the 7th century about who should succeed the Prophet Mohammed. Shiites, long disenfranchised in Iraq and Bahrain where they make up a majority and many other...

Turning Colder

February 13, 2007
Over the past year, concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin is returning his country to authoritarianism have arisen amidst a series of events that would suit a novel by John LeCarre. With internal enemies of the regime arrested or murdered, by way of an obscure, radioactive poison or by a fleeing gunman in the night, Russia’s government has became more secretive and more insistent on...

US Signals Flexibility on N. Korea

Demetri Sevastopulo February 12, 2007
Determined to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the US could be willing to take steps toward normalizing relations as soon as disarmament begins, reports “The Financial Times.” US sanctions on North Korean financial assets discouraged other banks from working with the rogue state, and this is bringing the struggling nation back to the negotiating table. Still, the Bush administration...

Watchdog Attacks US Swoop for Bank Secrets

Ian Traynor February 9, 2007
The transatlantic conflict over privacy rights and international security continues as the leading European authority on data protection announced that a US financial information-sharing program abuses privacy rights “on a massive scale,” reports “The Guardian.” For the past six years, the US has collected names, account numbers and sums from European banking transactions through the Belgian-...

What North Korea Really Wants

Robert Carlin February 8, 2007
With the six-party negotiations, North Korea certainly has some goals, but those remain a mystery to many observers from the West. The nation could want some economic rewards, including energy, food or other forms of aid. Or, the nation could want security or diplomatic relations. Robert Carlin and John Lewis, long-time analysts of North Korea, contend that the nation really wants “a long-term,...

Traffic Cop in an Unsettled Region

Bernhard Zand February 7, 2007
This month, Riyadh is seeing more diplomatic traffic than usual as high-level envoys from the US, Germany and other nations seek to gain the support of the Saudi government for various initiatives to promote peace in the region. As Bernhard Zand writes, the hidden backdrop for this flurry of activity is the ambiguity of Saudi intentions and the fact that the nation may represent the best...

Bangladesh on the Brink

C. Christine Fair February 7, 2007
A major Muslim nation with a strong Democratic tradition is now under military control, and the international community has barely noticed. National elections were canceled and a state of emergency was declared in Bangladesh. The military took control amid the ongoing quarrel between two major political parties, the Bangladesh National Party and the Awami League. In the past, minority Islamic...