In The News

Reality Check for European Union

Jonathan Fenby April 27, 2005
One year ago, the European Union seemed to be on a roll. Membership had grown to 25, and many in the Union saw a united Europe as the surest method of challenging American hegemony. Now that dream may be on the brink of failure, writes Jonathan Fenby. If public opinion polls are correct, French voters will reject the proposed European constitution in a May 29th referendum. A "no" vote...

A Hundred Cellphones Bloom, and Chinese Take to the Streets

Jim Yardley April 26, 2005
Cellphone text messaging may be the next big thing for China’s grassroots organizers. A swift and convenient method of mass communication, cellphones have already spread among the general population like wildfire. Users proved in the recent anti-Japanese protests that cellphones could also be a powerful tool in organizing marches, boycotts, and public demonstrations. Although the recent protests...

Is Democracy in the Middle East a Pipedream?

Fawaz Gerges April 25, 2005
The winds of democratic change are sweeping the Middle East, but there is still much mistrust to overcome. According to Middle East scholar Fawaz Gerges, the current stirrings against autocratic rulers, from Beirut to Cairo to Jerusalem, herald a more assertive civil society and a true longing for political emancipation among Arabs. The roots of Middle Eastern political oppression lay in the...

Power Plays in Asia

Jim Hoagland April 22, 2005
Protesters recently filled China's streets, objecting to Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council; Japan, the protesters maintain, has yet to atone sufficiently for its crimes during World War II. As this Washington Post article points out, however, "It is a mistake to write off the political turmoil in Asia as a case of resurgent nationalism in a region that...

Rising Dragon and the American Eagle – Part II

Robert Sutter April 22, 2005
Recent developments – including the high-profile visit by China's premier Wen Jiabao to South Asia – showing the rising profile of China have intensified a long-running debate in Washington. How does the growing power and influence of China affect the dominance that the United States has so far enjoyed in Asia? In the second of our two-part series, Georgetown University's China...

China Owes Japan for Riots

April 21, 2005
Citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Japanese officials and experts in international law say that Beijing must apologize to Japan and compensate for property damage incurred in recent anti-Japanese demonstrations. The windows of the Japanese embassy and consulates were shattered and the walls smeared with paint by protestors throughout China. Many Japanese businesses have also...

"Return at Any Cost" Is Breach of Rights

Jamie Doward April 21, 2005
Several human rights groups are alleging that Britain is increasingly returning refugees to places of conflict. In particular, the British Home Office has purportedly been repatriating political dissidents to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where their return means certain imprisonment, torture, and even death. Amnesty International and the Institute of Race Relations, among other...