In The News

North Korean Nuclear Conundrum

Chung Min Lee June 29, 2006
As North Korea plans to launch a long-range missile, the US threatens sanctions and military intervention. But public policy Professor Chung Min Lee asserts that it may be too late to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Analysts suggest that the country has enough weapons-grade plutonium for a dozen nuclear weapons. Since the early 1990s, North Korea has worked with highly enriched uranium...

Congress May Yet Move on Immigration

Gail Russell Chaddock June 28, 2006
US legislators are polarized over immigration reform, but they also recognize that voters on both sides – those who welcome hardworking illegal immigrants who otherwise don’t break laws versus those who want to deport all illegals – are passionate about the issue. Voters question the ability of Congress to act on an obvious and glaring problem, with more than 12 million illegal aliens in the US....

Distempered Days

Declan Walsh June 28, 2006
Chaos is on the rise in Afghanistan as violent attacks by the Taliban increase, and corruption and the drug trade run rampant through the country. Four years ago, Hamad Karzai was viewed as Afghanistan’s best hope for rebuilding the country, but now many question his leadership. Afghans contend that their president has failed to meet basic needs, and most still live in poverty. Western officials...

Globalization: When Cure Is Worse Than Malady

Richard Hornik June 27, 2006
The global economic transition to a post-industrial economy has increased pace since the end of the Cold War, but the dislocations caused by rapid globalization rage on. As a consequence, electorates have become deeply divided between those who benefit and those who do not. Politicians find themselves pandering to narrow constituencies with petty, irrelevant legislation to build coalitions, often...

A Shot in the Dark

Mark Tran June 27, 2006
In 2001, the United Nations created a program that aimed to reduce the “trafficking, proliferation and misuse of guns,” and delegates meet again in New York to discuss the possible implementation of an international arms trade treaty. The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful lobby group in the US, has decried that the efforts of the action group will “strip all citizens of all nations of...

Rioting in China Over Label on College Diplomas

Joseph Kahn June 26, 2006
This year, China will produce less than half as many jobs as it will college graduates. No wonder, then, students and families are willing to pay steeper tuition at colleges associated with prestigious national universities. Promised that their diplomas would bear the name of Zhengzhou University, the top school in the province, graduates from Shengda College exploded into riots after receiving...

China’s Portuguese Connection

Loro Horta June 22, 2006
Patience is power, suggests a Chinese proverb, and that describes how China pursues diplomacy. The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) consists of eight states around the world, encompassing 230 million people – but is rarely regarded as a priority in global politics. Bucking conventional thinking, China diligently pursues diplomacy with the CPLP, foreseeing benefits such as new...