In The News

Sportswear Boycott Over Burma Links

Vivek Chaudhary October 6, 2003
A British-based campaign for democracy in Burma urged soccer fans to boycott goods produced by Kappa, a popular sportswear supplier with stores all over Europe. The campaign claims that Kappa indirectly supports the brutal Burma military regime by continuing to stock its stores with products made in the country. Although Kappa says it has already severed its links to Burmese manufacturers, goods...

China Bids for the High Ground

Joan Johnson-Freese October 1, 2003
The world may seem a little smaller to China soon - especially as viewed from outer space. The Chinese government plans to launch a manned space capsule in the next few weeks, closing a technological gap with Russia and the US that no other country has crossed. Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert in Chinese space technology at the US Naval War College, believes that to understand the implications of...

Is the Arab Reform Chorus Serious or Fraudulent?

Rami G. Khouri October 1, 2003
Rami G. Khouri, executive editor of Lebanon's Daily Star, argues that the 'guns and cash' provided by donor nations influence the rhetoric of Arab states. Whatever the foreign donor takes up as an important issue, the Arab state parrots in turn. For example, Middle Eastern governments have adopted the rhetoric of human rights reform, equitable development, and now the 'war on...

Ankara Links Iraq Force to US Action Over Kurds

Metin Munir September 29, 2003
The US recently asked India, Pakistan, South Korea, and Turkey to deploy troops in Iraq. India and Pakistan declined, preferring to commit troops only under UN sanction. South Korea is still considering the request. But Turkey will commit only if there is a quid pro quo. Worried about the Kurdish secessionist movement and public approval, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants the US...

Russia Must Not Slip into Autocracy

James Woolsey September 24, 2003
Russia is officially a democratic country, but recent political shifts have made it seem otherwise. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to crack down on corruption, but the latest prosecution efforts have been tainted with corruption themselves. Freedom of the press is largely nonexistent, and journalists who criticize human rights violations in Chechnya have been persecuted. And the...

U.N. Official Plans to Urge U.S. to Reconsider Farm Subsidies

Elizabeth Becker September 24, 2003
The director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) may find his message to Washington falls on deaf ears. With the 2004 presidential election on the line (and agribusiness's lucrative campaign donations very much in every politician's mind), congressmen and White House officials alike hesitate to believe that the $22 billion in subsidies offered to American farmers is a cause...

Border Security Merging

Jesse Bogan September 22, 2003
Coming into the US can be a confusing experience, with all different agencies competing to check your car for illegal immigrants, drugs, fruit, or terrorists. Now, in a move towards political expediency, the department of Homeland Security is moving to present "one face at the border" through a unified border patrol (CBP). Current immigration and agriculture officials are complaining...