In The News

Slow-Motion Reunification

John Feffer June 9, 2005
For a half-century, it has been impossible to cross the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. But not today: Daily buses now transport South Korean workers across the border to work in a joint industrial complex. The project is part of a larger South Korean effort to promote engagement with North Korea and to stabilize the region. While President Bush hopes that North Korea will...

Diplomats Put on Backlash Alert

Cynthia Banham June 2, 2005
Contrary to initial reports, the "biological agent" scare at Canberra's Indonesian embassy may have been a false alarm. The white powder may not be as dangerous as previously thought, and many accuse Australian Prime Minister John Howard of over-reacting. Regardless of the substance's potency, overseas Australian diplomats remain on guard against a potential retaliation. A...

Indonesia's Canberra Embassy Shut After Scare

Michelle Nichols June 1, 2005
The Wednesday morning discovery of an envelope containing white powder left many nerves rattled in the Indonesian embassy in Australia. The toxin belongs to the same related to the bacteria that cause anthrax: "It is not an innocent white powder," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Authorities believe that the incident was likely a response to the recent conviction of an...

A Revolution in American Nuclear Policy

Jonathan Schell May 27, 2005
In this editorial, Jonathan Schell calls attention to "a revolution in US nuclear policy" – a revolution that was virtually ignored by the media. For the first time, the US president has the capability to launch a pinpoint nuclear strike anywhere in the world within a few hours. Why has President Bush sought a nuclear program that is sure to encourage proliferation elsewhere? In...

Nuclear Regime in Peril

Joseph Cirincione May 17, 2005
The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has proven to be among the most successful security pacts in history. For 35 years, it has forestalled the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and with only one defector: North Korea. Yet as the world meets to review the treaty at the United Nations this month, discord among members is hindering the development of an effective plan. Of key importance...

Terrorism and the Computer

Mohamed Sid-Ahmed April 26, 2005
This month's bombing in Cairo's Islamic Al-Azhar quarter illustrates the degree to which technology and terrorism are growing in concert. The man who detonated the bomb, Hassan Raafat Basha, was an engineering student who spent hours on his computer, a member of a generation that is no stranger to technology. Bashandi's attack may well have been ordered by a hidden terrorist...

US Yet to Accommodate China's Rise

Philip Stephens April 1, 2005
Compared to the war in Iraq, the hunt for bin-Laden, and the rift in the transatlantic alliance, writes columnist Philip Stephens, "the implications of China's rapid emergence as a global power have been neglected." Only recently have the full geopolitical implications of China's burgeoning economic power come to the forefront of US policy. And according to Stephens, the...