In The News

Chávez Moves Reserves Out of US Treasuries

Andy Webb-Vidal October 7, 2005
President Hugo Chávez has liquidated about half of Venezuela's US$30.4 billion holdings of US Treasuries, confirmed a director at the country's central bank. The bank director attributed the transfer to financial reasons: Venezuela's foreign reserves have benefited from high oil prices, and Chávez might have wanted to shift some of the winnings from securities to social programs....

It Takes Two Hands to Clap

Ahmed Rashid October 6, 2005
Two days after Afghanistan's parliamentary elections in September, President Hamid Karzai boasted that his country "now has a constitution, a president, a parliament, and a nation fully participating in its destiny." But as journalist Ahmed Rashid writes, that is not exactly the case. Despite Karzai's previous promises of reform and nation-building, conditions in Afghanistan...

Il faut etre uni pour reconstruire

Ahmed Rashid October 6, 2005

Why Did We Say Nay?

Prem Shankar Jha October 4, 2005
India, once the champion of the Cold War Non-Aligned Movement, has long valued its diplomatic independence and domestic self-sufficiency. Unsurprisingly, then, the world's largest democracy's recent vote – alongside the United States – to censure Iran under the edicts of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty triggered a public uproar. From across the Indian political spectrum, critics...

Borders of Tolerance

Christopher Caldwell October 3, 2005
At a time when Mexican immigration has penetrated every corner of the United States – and, many Americans feel, stolen millions of jobs from native citizens – the US public demands an ever-tougher stand against immigrants. Yet, paradoxically, Americans are also growing increasingly accustomed to living with Mexican immigrants – immigrants who are "Christian, familial, hard working farm...

Too Soon for Turkish Delight

October 3, 2005
After decades of waiting – in addition to last-minute delays – Turkey may finally see a beginning to formal talks concerning EU membership. European diplomats had been unable to agree on a negotiating framework, because Austria's government has insisted that Turkey be given an alternative "privileged partnership" rather than full membership. Though Austria was forced to back down...

Seeking Justice Abroad

Khaled Amayreh September 30, 2005
For years, Palestinians and human rights activists have protested the unequal treatment non-Jews receive from Israel's justice system. Now, frustrated Palestinians are seeking redress for their grievances against Israel in international courts. "If a state doesn't or is not capable of giving justice to a segment of its own citizens, those citizens have every right to seek justice...