In The News

Manila's Iraq Pullout Due to Clout of Overseas Workers

Luz Baguioro July 16, 2004
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo faced a political conundrum of global proportions this week when deciding whether to pull troops from Iraq after Iraqi militants threatened to behead a Filipino truck driver. In deciding to withdraw troops from Iraq, the Philippines angered the United States, a country with whom military and trade connections are of the greatest importance. Arroyo's final...

Ex-Dictator Had Millions in U.S. Bank

Andres Oppenheimer July 15, 2004
Augusto Pinochet, the dictator of Chile from 1973 until 1990, was found by US Senate investigators to have deposited upwards of $8 million in Washington-based Riggs Bank under names of phony firms. According to American law, US banks are supposed to investigate deposits of foreign government officials for drug trafficking or corruption problems before opening an account. The Senate...

Quo Vadis America?

Immanuel Wallerstein July 13, 2004
The world has long been divided between those who hail the US as a leader of global forces for human freedom and those who see it as an imperialist power. It is only recently, however, under the presidency of George W. Bush, that those who had negative feelings about the US were mostly citizens of Western countries, including the US itself. Social theorist Immanuel Wallerstein argues that an...

¿Quo vadis, Estados Unidos?

Immanuel Wallerstein July 13, 2004

¿Quo vadis, Estados Unidos?

Immanuel Wallerstein July 13, 2004

East Asia and Bumpy Sino-Taiwanese Relations

Jusuf Wanandi July 1, 2004
With the Taiwan’s presidential election over the issue of its relations with China has receded from the public attention. This inattention, a leading Indonesian commentator Yusuf Wanandi says, could lead to the eruption of a dangerous conflict between China and Taiwan, affecting the stability and prosperity of all of East Asia. He says that the Taiwanese President Chen Shui Bian has decided on...

U.S. Restrictions on Trips to Cuba are Inhumane

Jim Defede June 29, 2004
This commentary in the Miami Herald discusses the new travel restrictions enforced by the Bush administration, which will limit family visits to Cuba from once a year to once every three years. The author argues that this new policy is merely an election-year strategy designed to get older Cuban-Americans to vote for the Republican incumbent in November's US presidential election. The travel...