In The News

American Tech Companies in China: Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't

August 12, 2008
: A US senator convinced US technology firms to agree on an internet freedom code of conduct. But companies like Google, Yahoo! And Microsoft have not made great strides in China while Chinese internet firms flourish. The number of internet users in China now exceeds the US total. “If they left China, these American technology companies would have fewer market entry headaches, but the...

Beijing Olympics' Opening Ceremonies a Big Hit

Peter Fimrite August 11, 2008
Drumming, dancing and technology – breathtaking in their precision – marked the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. “Amid Friday night's spectacle, athletes from 205 nations marched in and celebrated what is being touted as China's emergence as a cultural, political and economic power,” writes Peter Fimrite for the San Francisco Chronicle. “The Olympic slogan, ‘One World, One...

War in Georgia: How the Caucasus Erupted

Carmen Eller August 8, 2008
The provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia struggle to break away from Georgia, and build closer links with Russia. Russia issues passports to residents in the provinces seeking independence and has also built a gas pipeline. Spreading conflict underscores ongoing differences between Russia and the US and the struggle to control energy sources. “Russia does not want to lose its influence on...

Time to Strengthen the IAEA

Ernesto Zedillo August 7, 2008
The International Atomic Energy Agency established an 18-member commission chaired by Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, to reflect on how the nuclear future might unfold, what the world is likely to demand of the IAEA, and what steps must be taken to allow the agency to fill those needs. The result of the commission’s deliberation was presented to the...

Learning to Speak Climate

Thomas L. Friedman August 7, 2008
The effects of climate change are slow and pernicious, suggests Thomas Friedman in his New York Times column. Too many anticipate massive disasters on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, striking New Orleans in 2005 with broken dams and flooding. But instead, notices of climate change already arrive steadily by post, warns Danish geologist Minik Thorleif Rosing, in the form of higher bills for water...

Revisiting the “Axis of Evil” – Part III

Shen Dingli August 5, 2008
For more than a half a century, nuclear powers have built enormous stockpiles of weapons in the hope that it would deter military challenges. The same nations have also strenuously tried to prevent others from breaking into the five-member club of nuclear-weapons power. This three-part series examines the US effort at containing three suspected aspirants, called the “Axis of Evil” by President...

CIA Outlines Pakistan Links With Militants

Mark Mazzetti August 5, 2008
Pakistan is a leading partner in the US war against terrorism, but some US officials have produced evidence of disturbing links between Pakistani intelligence officials and militants responsible for violence in Afghanistan, particularly the network of Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqan. “The C.I.A. has depended heavily on the ISI for information about militants in Pakistan, despite longstanding concerns...