In The News

How the Next US President Might Deal With Trade

Edward Gresser December 6, 2007
With lifelong loyalty to a single company no longer the norm, fewer US businesses provide insurance and pensions for their laborers. At the same time, more firms replace US jobs with computers or low-cost labor abroad. As a result, Americans are anxious about jobs – and who will pick up the costs for their health care and retirement. In this context, candidates for US president on the right and...

A New Search for Peace in the Middle East

Mark Matthews December 4, 2007
“A snake pit of recrimination and mistrust” is how longtime Middle East diplomatic correspondent Mark Matthews describes Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation, but he might as well include many other snakes in that metaphorical pit – the United States, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the European Union and the United Nations, to name a few entities that have a stake in the conflict. As the...

“Russia Has Discredited Itself in the Eyes of the World”

Naomi Buck November 29, 2007
The Kremlin has assumed a two-pronged approach toward December 2 parliamentary elections: arresting opposition figures and banning international observers. This has culminated in violence and mass detentions in several cities, with police crushing demonstrations by opposition parties. The Kremlin-backed United Russia party is expected to select Putin as president, through May 2008 when term...

Bye Bye Belgium?

Jon Henley November 27, 2007
Belgium juggles cultural and linguistic differences – French, Dutch and German – through norms of cooperation and a complex system of federalism. Until recently, the country has stood as proof that polarized groups can live together in peace. The failure of Belgium’s politicians to form a national government for nearly six months – and counting – has many questioning whether the country can...

American Special Forces in Pakistan: Back to the Future?

Paula R. Newberg November 21, 2007
The reaction to the news that the US Defense Department has decided to send Special Forces trainers to Pakistan’s unruly tribal areas has so far been muted. But the irony of the decision and its long-term implication for the Subcontinent is hard to miss. In the eighties, the US administration poured money and weapons in Pakistan to train the Mujahideen to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. The...

Taiwan Squeezed as US and China Negotiate

Simon Tisdall November 20, 2007
The issue of Taiwan has been a thorny one since the Kuomintang’s relocation from mainland China in 1949. A sense of irredentism has been present on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, though now it persists predominantly on the mainland. The surge in China-US relations in recent years has complicated the Taiwan question even more. Though Taiwan has depended on deals with the US military in the past...

Time for Reality Check in Iran

Dilip Hiro November 19, 2007
With Iran continually expanding its uranium enrichment program despite warnings from the UN Security Council, there has been growing talk of strict sanctions against the country, even murmurs of military action. The idea of military action floated by American neo-conservatives is strongly opposed by many in the US administration. A UN sanction against Iran also appears to be problematic. A...