In The News

The Big Idea: A Doctrine Passes

Jane Mayer October 7, 2002
President George W. Bush's doctrine of preemptive self-defence has got a big thumbs down from an iconic figure of American diplomacy. Commenting on the Bush doctrine in an interview with the New Yorker magazine, George Kennan , the author of the policy of containment and doctrine of deterrence, said "I could see justification only if the absence of it would involve a major and imminent...

Music Industry in Global Fight on Web Copies

Amy Harmon October 7, 2002
For a while, Napster was the darling of music-swapping college students and the bane of American entertainment industry officials. Litigation in US courts effectively bankrupted the company a year ago, but now a new multi-national file exchange service may be taking Napster's place - in popularity, and in US courtrooms. Already counting millions of users around the globe, KaZaA:geography...

Unilateral Action Would Make for a Very Difficult World - Kofi Annan

October 4, 2002
In a wide-sweeping question and answer session following a speech at Yale University, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized that peace and security in the international order were the responsibility of all nations, not only the US. The UN Security Council was charged with this duty, he said, and any nation that ignored that would undermine stability in the world. - YaleGlobal

Transcript of Q&A with Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General

October 3, 2002
United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, responded to a series of questions posed to him following his speech on globalization at Yale University. Mr. Annan offered his views on the current Iraq-US conflict, the global AIDS pandemic, the Kashmir conflict, the International Criminal Court. He also shared his personal thoughts on the challenges of leading the world's largest...

Stable Oil Prices Likely to Become a War Casualty, Experts Say

Neela Banerjee October 2, 2002
The current conflict between the US and Iraq, should it escalate to outright war, would have major de-stabilizing effects on the world oil market. A variety of scenarios exist, including short-term price spikes, long-term price decreases, and increases or decreases in Saudi Arabian political and economic influence. Whatever changes may ensue, one thing is clear – oil is the blood that pumps...

The Next Wave of HIV/AIDS: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, India, and China

October 1, 2002
The US National Intelligence Council says the number of people with HIV/AIDS will grow significantly by the end of the decade. The increase will be driven by the spread of the disease in five populous countries—Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, India, and China—where the number of infected people will grow from around 14 to 23 million currently to an estimated 50 to 75 million by 2010. This estimate...

Every Country Has the Right to Pre-emption: Jaswant

Sridhar Krishnaswami October 1, 2002
Ever since the US elaborated on its right to mount pre-emptive strikes against a country threatening American security, analysts have wondered how the international community would respond to this claim. Jaswant Singh, India’s former Minister of External Affairs and current Finance Minister, dismissed such discussion as “academic” and asserted that "Every nation has that right. It is not the...