In The News

Every Country Has the Right to Pre-emption: Jaswant

Sridhar Krishnaswami October 1, 2002
Ever since the US elaborated on its right to mount pre-emptive strikes against a country threatening American security, analysts have wondered how the international community would respond to this claim. Jaswant Singh, India’s former Minister of External Affairs and current Finance Minister, dismissed such discussion as “academic” and asserted that "Every nation has that right. It is not the...

China's Support for U.S. on Terror Is a Dramatic About-Face

Erik Eckholm September 30, 2002
China’s government has shown a surprising degree of support for the American ‘war on terrorism’ announced by President Bush after the attacks of September 11. Chinese leaders hope to foster better relations with the US and other countries while also gaining support in their efforts to quell Muslim unrest in western China. - YaleGlobal

Central Asian Authorities Keep IMU Threat Alive

September 16, 2002
During the American campaign in Afghanistan there were reports that, along with Taliban and al Qaeda members, the military leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Juma Namangani, was killed. However, one Tajik official says that Namangani was actually regrouping and hoping to launch a strike into the Ferghana Valley. Other Central Asian political figures have also publicly worried...

Immigration Reform and National Security

Tamar Jacoby September 16, 2002
Despite Mexican President Vicente Fox’s appeal to the U.S. Congress last year for more favorable immigration policies, the issue of immigration reform has been swept under the proverbial rug. The plan proposed to increase the number of visas for Mexican workers and to legalize the status of many previously undocumented workers in the U.S. A year after the plan first reached Washington, issues...

Muslim Hardliners to Begin "Sweeps" Against Foreigners

September 7, 2002
Indonesian Islamic organizations led by the militant MMI have threatened a crackdown against foreign nationals working illegally in major Indonesian cities. The threat comes as a response to neighboring Malaysia's recent announcement of strict immigration rules against illegal workers there – many of whom come from Indonesia, The Indonesian groups' 'sweep' would check the...

US Coordinates Drug Sweep in the Balkans and Central Asia

David Binder August 25, 2002
In an era in which technology has made physical distance seem irrelevant, drug enforcement officials must find newer methods to compete with the increasingly flexible and multinational drug trade network. In the summer of 2002, the Drug Enforcement Administration, working with 25,000 officials in 15 nations, managed to prove the effectiveness of multinational operations in combating the trade in...

Cybercafe Crackdown May Trip up Leering Boys

Ian Fisher August 1, 2002
In the name of fighting terrorism, the Government of Pakistan has imposed new regulations that would keep track of cybercafe users. The new rules require cybercafes to register with the government and to ask every customer for proof of identity so as to track terrorists and deny them access to public computers. However, like the rest of the world, porn sites, email accounts and chat sites are...