In The News

When Diplomacy Flunks

Ernesto Zedillo April 28, 2003
Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico and current Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, discusses his hopes and fears in light of US unilateral action in Iraq. He fears that this war will be a prologue to a new international order defined by aggressive US unipolarity. If this is the case, he says, “Sooner rather than later, even old friends acting alone, or perhaps...

Leading Iraqi Scientist Says He Lied to U.N. Inspectors

Judith Miller April 27, 2003
Since the earliest days of fighting, the US-led coalition in Iraq has been searching for the scientists, documents and biological and chemical toxins that would validate Washington’s charges that Iraq had developed a sophisticated program for creating weapons of mass destruction. While there have been few significant discoveries to date, new testimony by one of Iraq’s top scientists, who has...

American Power Moves beyond the Mere Super

Gregg Easterbrook April 27, 2003
US success in Iraq shows US military supremacy that is virtually unmatched in the world today. The US has highly sophisticated weapons technology, superior reconnaissance satellites, and the highest military spending of all NATO countries combined. Recent battles in Iraq and Afghanistan serve as both, learning opportunities for US troops and also testing grounds of new US technology....

N. Korea Says It Has Nuclear Arms

Glenn Kessler April 25, 2003
Talks opened on Wednesday between North Korea, China, and the United States to discuss solutions to a burgeoning nuclear crisis in the Korean peninsula. Instead of a resolution, the talks brought out the news that the Korean nuclear program may be further along than they had originally admitted. Korean officials claim to have built a nuclear weapon and almost finished the reprocessing of 8,000...

Mini-Nukes, Maxi-Danger

April 24, 2003
The development by the Pentagon of so called, “baby nukes,” could only threaten United States security, the Mercury News editorializes. Arguing that it would undermine counter-proliferation efforts and set a dangerous precedent for nuclear powers such as India, Pakistan and potentially North Korea, the San Jose newspaper believes that US development of tactical nuclear weapons would threaten...

Hunt for Iraqi Arms Erodes Assumptions

Barton Gellman April 21, 2003
The Bush administration justified the Iraq war on the certainty that the Hussein regime was developing weapons of mass destruction. Now that the war has ended, little evidence has been found to support those claims, leading U.S. officials to call for new search tactics and increased resources. Some analysts worry that if these weapons or the means to produce them are no longer under the control...

Clashing Agendas Threaten Start of North Korea Talks

Doug Struck April 20, 2003
American leadership in the world is being tested in Asia. A Wednesday meeting between the US, China, and North Korea is still on schedule, but it's not clear what – if anything – will come of it. The US wants Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program and re-submit to UN inspections, but observers say that's unlikely unless the US gives something in exchange to North Korea. Within the...