In The News

Massive MMA Rally Flays Iraq War

Tahir Hasan Khan March 3, 2003
When Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to cooperate with the United States to root out terrorists after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he alienated many conservative Pakistani Muslims. As the UN Security Council considers a second resolution about war in Iraq, Musharraf once again faces heat from Islamic groups at home. In a rally in Karachi that organizers called a “Million March...

Summit Challenges

Ibrahim Nafie February 28, 2003
This opinion article in Egypt's Al-Ahram weekly says that the upcoming Arab summit must address two pressing issues: the impending war in Iraq and the plight of the Palestinians. The first issue requires a concerted effort on the part of Arab regimes to convince Saddam Hussein to comply with the weapons inspections to stave a war in the region. Solving the second issue, the plight of the...

President Bush’s Nation-Building

February 27, 2003
In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, President Bush announced plans for rebuilding Iraq in the wake of a war against Saddam Hussein. The plan would likely require hundreds of thousands of troops and years of occupation, not unlike the occupation of Japan and Germany after the Second World War. Turning Iraq into a democratic and peaceful nation would serve as a model for other...

The Trans-Atlantic Aftershock of 9/11

Immanuel Wallerstein February 26, 2003
It has been long time in the making, but the debate over the wisdom of attacking Iraq has revealed how far apart the alliance forged after World War II has grown. In the past, despite reservations European countries may have had about specific US policies, they have tended to support the US because of shared security concerns. All that has changed with the rise of an economically strong and...

Bush Faces Increasingly Poor Image Overseas

Glenn Kessler February 24, 2003
Whether it's because of his "cowboy" reputation, conservatism, or religious references, President Bush is not liked by much of the world. He's now being compared to Saddam Hussein-and some think that Bush might be a worse threat. Global protests against the war in Iraq on February 15th centered largely on anti-Bush slogans. Clearly the American administration still has a...

Where Did All the Anger Go?

Amira Howeidy February 21, 2003
Protesters on every continent marched for peace on February 15, but the turnout in Egypt was rather small. The few hundred that did show were largely stifled by a massive police presence; public protest has been illegal in Egypt since a state of emergency was declared in 1981, and lately authorities have been jailing dissidents with more frequency. Though many were frustrated by the...

Unaddressed Concerns

February 21, 2003
The global debate over a possible war in Iraq has occurred largely without the voice of the Indian government. The Indian Parliament has been largely silent on the subject, despite popular opposition to unilateral war and support for the role of the U.N. The government’s vagueness is unacceptable, this editorial in The Hindu argues. Furthermore, it says, with the opposition of France and...