In The News

One Hand Clapping in the Caucasus

Kenneth Weisbrode January 26, 2004
As Georgia's newly elected president takes office this week, much of the world has high hopes for the future of his new government. Outsiders have been trying to influence developments in Georgia and neighboring Azerbaijan for some time now, says Eurasia scholar Kenneth Weisbrode, but if recent history is any indication, the path to stability in the Caucasus region is still quite rocky....

Turkey at the Crossroads

Mohammed Ayoob January 22, 2004
An Islamic party that supports Turkey's admission into the EU and the military that is lukewarm on troop deployment suggest paradoxes in Turkish politics. Mohammed Ayoob explains these paradoxes as the result of a general change in Turkey's political landscape and the particularities of the situation: the Kurdish insurgency has diminished, the military's influence has waned, and an...

An Ancient Model for China's New Power

Eric Teo Chu Cheow January 21, 2004
Asia is changing politically and culturally as a result of China's rise, says this article in the International Herald Tribune. Harkening back to the days of the Ming and Qing dynasties, China's recent approach to its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region emphasizes securing its immediate borders, placing itself as the 'heart' of the region, and giving more 'favors'...

Africa's Potemkin Deception

Michael Holman January 19, 2004
Just as the Russian Prince Potemkin once created mock villages in the Ukraine and the Crimea to convince Catherine the Great of her empire’s health, so may the continent’s modern benefactors be deluding themselves and the world about its progress, argues Michael Holman, former Africa editor of the Financial Times. Sub-Saharan Africa remains mired in poverty, disease, and debt, yet manufactured...

Souring Relations

Ashraf Khalil January 16, 2004
The US effort to stabilize Iraq may not be going as planned, reports this article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly newspaper. Several arguments have erupted of late that threaten to divide Iraq's Interim Governing Council (IGC) and the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority. Disagreements over appointees to the Council, disputes over the role of the United Nations in facilitating a...

Follow the Leader on Iraqi Debt

Timothy W. Guinnane January 15, 2004
In trying to rebuild a shattered Iraq, Washington is asking other governments to reduce or restructure debts owed them by the war-torn country. With over $120 billion at stake, this is not a small request. Still, debt reduction is an important goal, says Yale economic historian Timothy W. Guinnane. As in post-WWII Germany, he writes, debt reduction could facilitate Iraq's economic rebirth...

Europe's Lesson, from Brussels to Baghdad

Wolfgang Schauble January 13, 2004
Europe's crisis over the ideal constitution for the EU stems from fundamental differences between contending countries, says Bundestag official Wolfgang Schauble. France and Germany's belief in the right of majority rule is their justification for insisting on having their way on certain key economic and political decisions. With large populations, they expect greater clout. Poland,...