In The News

Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War

James Risen November 6, 2003
Could the war in Iraq have been averted with last-minute concessions by Saddam Hussein's regime? There were offers on the table in February, says this report in The New York Times. Iraqi intelligence officials are reported to have approached a Lebanese-American businessman to outline their position, who in turn met with Richard Perle, an influential adviser to the White House. The...

US Situation in Iraq and Afghanistan

John McCain November 5, 2003
In an address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Senator John McCain gives his view on the progress in Iraq. McCain asserts that US troop deployment is too low to ensure proper security and the decision to hand over security to Iraqis with minimal training is foolish. He claims that in continuing to mention exit strategy the US administration hinders its cause by sending the wrong...

Safe Landing

Mostafa Al-Labbad October 31, 2003
Iran's decision to allow UN inspectors un-announced entry to its nuclear facilities was a shrewd diplomatic move, says this article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly. By first threatening to disengage from international discussions altogether, then slowly taking steps to permit more monitoring of its program, the author says, Tehran was demonstrating to the Bush administration in Washington...

Whither NATO? European Defense Force May Counterbalance US Power

Shada Islam October 29, 2003
The European Union's planned appointment of a foreign minister signals the bloc's desire to speak with a unified voice on global issues and to compete with the US as an international power. Now, writes Shada Islam, the US is protesting an EU proposal for strong, independent defense capabilities, calling it a serious threat to transatlantic relations. As member nations begin to debate...

North Korea Pursuing More Practical Line

Seo Hyun-jin October 28, 2003
North Korea's government has become more and more practical in its dealings with the US, says this Korea Herald article. "Pyongyang has become more practical under the Kim Jong-il regime," said one South Korean scholar. "It recognizes the nuclear deadlock would only worsen its economy and work against other pending matters." Earlier this year Pyongyang insisted that it...

The Seeds of Iraq's Future Terror

Shirley Williams October 28, 2003
Reacting to the recent attacks on foreign targets in Baghdad, British parliamentarian Baroness Shirley Williams worries that the resistance will continue as long as an un-democratic occupation force remains in control of Iraq. The decision to privatize most of Iraq's economy was made without consultation of the Iraqi people, she notes, but rather initiated by the American head of Iraq's...

Iran's Security Dilemma

George Perkovich October 27, 2003
Thanks to the deal that three EU foreign ministers struck with Iran last week, Iran's nuclear program will be more open to outside observers from the UN's atomic watchdog agency. But, says nonproliferation expert George Perkovich, it isn't clear whether the deal will satisfy Iran's fiercest critic - the US. Rather, he argues, the US and Iran want more than a simple nuclear...