In The News

A Bombshell That's Actually an Olive Branch

Leon V. Sigal October 18, 2002
North Korea is seeking better relations with its neighbors and the US, not trying to start an international conflict. Although the country has breached the 1994 agreement to end its nuclear weapons program, what North Korean leaders want is more international acceptance. The record on North Korea suggests that Pyongyang will cooperate when the US stays true to its word and will retaliate when...

N Korea 'Admits' Nuclear Weapons Programme

Andrew Ward October 17, 2002
Confronted with US evidence, North Korea has admitted to developing a nuclear weapons program. The country's admission shows a blatant disregard of a 1994 agreement in which it promised to halt nuclear weapons research, and the issue poses a serious set-back for the global effort to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The admission also sheds doubt on the sincerity of...

China Reshaping Military to Toughen Its Muscle in the Region

Craig S. Smith October 16, 2002
Chinese military and political leaders are intent on modernizing and reorganizing their armed forces to better compete with the United States and assert more influence in Asia. The primary purpose of this reorganization is to attain military superiority over Taiwan so that, through either intimidation or force, Beijing can regain sovereignty over the island. In the long term, China hopes its...

China and Kyrgyzstan Launch Anti-terrorism Exercises

October 11, 2002
The global war on terror has brought new security developments like the dispatch of Japanese navy vessels to the Indian Ocean for the first time since WWII and Chinese soldiers engaging in the first ever live exercise outside their border with another nation. Kyrgyzstan and China have begun coordinated military exercises along their border in order to combat threats from international Islamic...

The Big Idea: A Doctrine Passes

Jane Mayer October 7, 2002
President George W. Bush's doctrine of preemptive self-defence has got a big thumbs down from an iconic figure of American diplomacy. Commenting on the Bush doctrine in an interview with the New Yorker magazine, George Kennan , the author of the policy of containment and doctrine of deterrence, said "I could see justification only if the absence of it would involve a major and imminent...

War on Iraq Could Be Disastrous for Philippines

Al Labita October 7, 2002
If conflict breaks out in Iraq, a million Filipino workers living in the Middle East may have problems trying to send money back home. Foreign exchange remittances from overseas workers bring almost US$10 billion into the Philippines each year, and the country's economy might be devastated if that flow is suddenly halted. The Philippine government must also prepare to call in favors from...

The Big Idea: A Doctrine Passes

Jane Mayer October 7, 2002
President George W. Bush's doctrine of preemptive self-defence has got a big thumbs down from an iconic figure of American diplomacy. Commenting on the Bush doctrine in an interview with the New Yorker magazine, George Kennan , the author of the policy of containment and doctrine of deterrence, said "I could see justification only if the absence of it would involve a major and imminent...