In The News

Food First or Trade First?

Vandana Shiva February 25, 2003
Implementation of the WTO’s trade liberalization rules marginalizes and hurts developing countries, says this opinion article in The Hindu, one of India’s largest newspapers. Trade liberalization is designed to eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade, but developing countries cannot compete with foreign agricultural producers. The author further argues that developing countries should be...

The Administration’s Budget for Global Poverty and HIV/AIDS: How Do the Numbers Stack Up?

Lael Brainard February 24, 2003
The Bush Administration’s announcement of new funding for global poverty and HIV/AIDS has led to much rejoicing in many parts of the world, but it has also met with skepticism in some quarters. The Washington-based Brookings Institution offers an in-depth quantitative analysis of the offer and the establishment of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). The report summary presented here says...

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...

How the Protesters Mobilized

Jennifer Lee February 23, 2003
Between the internet, cell phones, and text messaging, new ways are constantly being invented to disseminate information and organize large bodies of people across the globe. The February 15th worldwide protests against the impending war in Iraq stretched these means to their full potential. Protest organization can now be dispersed, non-hierarchal, and in tune with up-to-date information....

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...

Weapons That Disable Circuitry May Get First Use in Iraq

Seth Schiesel February 20, 2003
Along with a host of smarter, more powerful bombs and planes, the United States is preparing a new type of weapon for war in Iraq: the directed-energy device. The devices use microwaves to disable anything digital and could destroy, for example, computerized Iraqi control centers. The US, with its computer-dependent military, is especially vulnerable to these weapons, however, and terrorist...

Why Unity Is Essential

Zbigniew Brzezinski February 19, 2003
The bedrock of the alliance with NATO that supported the US for the past half century may be in jeopardy. Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former National Security adviser of President Jimmy Carter, says that the sharp differences with NATO and accompanying vitriol have led to grave doubt about American intentions toward the Atlantic alliance. Some Europeans, he says, are beginning to believe that the...