In The News

America in Africa: Addressing a Mix of Islam and Oil

Ricardo Rene Laremont February 6, 2007
Amidst the lingering turbulence in the Middle East, US policymakers look to Africa as an alternative source of petroleum. Washington has launched military training operations in a number of African nations in an effort to combat Islamic terrorism and secure oil supplies. While there is no doubt that such military investments are necessary in the post-9/11 world, Ricardo Rene Laremont expresses...

America’s China Worries – Part I

Joan Johnson-Freese February 6, 2007
For more than a decade, the US was a lone superpower in terms of economic, diplomatic and military might. But China has steadily stepped up to the challenge, demonstrating its intent to serve as a counterweight to US influence when it comes to global affairs. In the first of this series of articles about challenges to US-China relations, Joan Johnson-Freese, chair of the US Naval War College’s...

Shiite-Sunni Conflict Rises in Pakistan

David Montero February 6, 2007
Many Muslim nations, despite their varying proportions of Shiites and Sunnis, have seen the representatives of both religious sects banding together to pray, even when one sect constitutes a minority presence in the government. However, many analysts fear that sectarian violence in Baghdad could spark similar resentment beyond Iraq’s borders. For example, suicide bombers recently attacked a...

With Iran Ascendant, US Is Seen at Fault

Anthony Shadid January 31, 2007
The US invasion of Iraq four years ago was supposed to spread democracy throughout the Middle East – not strengthen Iran. Arab allies to the US resent Iran’s growing influence in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran is one of the few Shiite-dominated nations in a world where almost 9 out of every 10 Muslims are Sunnis. Much of the violence in Iraq stems from bitter conflict between the...

Smuggler’s Plot Highlights Fear Over Uranium

Lawrence Scott Sheets January 26, 2007
Officials in Georgia, a former Soviet republic, have arrested people carrying around uranium samples in garbage bags – and involved US officials in their investigations. Defying security measures imposed on such nuclear material, the sellers seek interested buyers. Terrorist groups and even some insecure nations would be willing to pay hefty amounts for the ingredients of a nuclear weapon,...

Russian Court Backs Closing of Chechen Rights Group

Peter Finn January 25, 2007
Authorities sometimes regard activism as extremism, especially when groups criticize government policy. Russian authorities put a stop to the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, after the group reprinted statements by Chechen separatists, linked to the mass school killing in 2004. The group is funded by organizations based in the West, and Russia has passed laws prohibiting anyone convicted of...

Ahmadinejad's Flare Amps Up Tensions

William Pfaff January 24, 2007
In devising foreign policy, governments must strive to understand differences and similarities in the structures of other governments. For example, the US and Israel err in assuming that Iran’s president has as much power as the US president, cautions author William Pfaff. Another err would be using Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s defiance as an excuse for invading Iran. Such an attack is anticipated as...