In The News

A Fight Against Terrorism – and Disorganization

Karen DeYoung August 9, 2006
US government bureaucracy and spending has exploded since the 9/11 attacks five years ago. The US has spent almost $500 billion on counter-terrorism, and layers of protection that often overlap – which doesn’t include a burgeoning private security industry – yet many experts still question the country’s safety. Government agencies still clash and fight for turf. For example, the Central...

Now Is the Time to Think Big in the Middle East

Joschka Fischer August 9, 2006
Israel’s dual conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah amount to a war by proxy, according to German author Joschka Fischer, who suggests that the two groups coordinated attacks to provoke an extreme response from Israel. Backing the attacks are Syria and Iran, which seek greater control throughout the Middle East. The attacks did manage to push any recognition of Israel by Hamas leaders to the back...

A Poisoned Relationship

Matthias Gebauer August 9, 2006
Historically, the United Nations and Israel have been at odds. The UN repeatedly scolds the nation for its actions, and many Israelis view the UN as weak in controlling militant groups that claim Israel has no right to exist. The relationship between the Israel and the UN can only erode more, following the Israeli bombing of the UN post in Lebanon. Israeli media have downplayed a story that...

The Odd Couple: Japan and China, The Politics of History and Identity

Haruko Satoh August 7, 2006
The Yasukuni Shrine has become a symbol of Japanese nationalism and a major target for Chinese criticism. China and Japan still carry bitterness since fighting each other during World War II, and Japanese leaders’ visits to the resting place for 14 class-A war criminals further strain the relationship. The bitterness, established in a Cold War framework, has little sense of purpose other than...

China Tests US Immigration Plan

June Kronholz August 4, 2006
The US wants to deport 40,000 Chinese immigrants, but China refuses to accept them without asylum-seekers such as Falun Gong members and political opponents as well. China’s refusal undermines US attempts at discouraging illegal immigration. The two chambers of the US Congress have clashed over how to handle the more than 10 million illegal immigrants estimated to be in the country, and...

How to Deal With NGOs – Part II, Russia

Liliana N. Proskuryakova August 3, 2006
President Vladimir Putin recognizes that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are useful tools for shaping global and national policy – and also for criticizing other world leaders. The second article in this two-part series examines Putin’s two-pronged approach in handling NGOs, a strategy on display during the recent G-8 summit in St. Petersburg: While keeping many Russian-based NGOs and...

Money Can’t Buy Us Democracy

Akbar Ganji August 2, 2006
Cash won’t promote democracy in Iran, and anyone who claims it will is a swindler, writes Akbar Ganji, an Iranian journalist. Money from outsiders can support despotism, but democracy must swell from citizens’ hearts and minds. Iran’s oppression has deep historical roots, and the international community can best help Iran, Ganji writes, by creating conduits that allow diverse dissident voices to...