In The News

Don’t Exaggerate Iranian Threat

Thomas W. Lippman May 25, 2006
Most world powers want to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons. Yet at the same time, those opposed to Iran nuclear capability cannot resort to unrealistic fears. For example, US policy should not focus narrowly on the threat that nuclear Iran poses for Israel. Without nuclear weapons, a military confrontation would inevitably turn in Israel’s favor: Israel has state-of-the-art...

This is Freedom, Say Courageous Women Risking All for Democracy

Declan Walsh May 24, 2006
As Afghanistan falls back into violence at the hands of the Taliban, a small number of courageous women risk their lives for the cause of democracy. Emerging from a history that has notoriously treated women’s views, education and personhood as beneath consideration, several female politicians – including one 18-year-old – have come to prominence in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, that prominence...

As Death Stalks Iraq, Middle-Class Exodus Begins

Sabrina Tavernise May 23, 2006
Ongoing violence in Iraq forces middle class and wealthy citizens to abandon homes and confess a lack of faith in the newly forming government. Murders of teachers, sanitation workers and even children are routine. Businesses often receive warnings to leave, parents withdraw their children from schools in record numbers, and families move to countries like Jordan and Syria. About 7 percent of...

A Taliban Comeback?

Ahmed Rashid May 23, 2006
Almost five years after the US invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for 9/11, the Taliban appears on a comeback trail, sparking a renewal of ethnic and warlord-based conflict with an overlay of ambition from neighbors. In confronting a powerful Taliban resurgence in southern Afghanistan, the Pakistan-US alliance is also at odds. Complicated politics and unrest place Afghanistan’s moderate...

The Palestinian Tipping Point

Anna Coote May 22, 2006
Even as much of the world shuddered at implications for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Hamas took power in Palestine with a platform of provision. Despite widespread international distrust for Hamas, Palestinians democratically voiced a longing for basic services. Sadly the Palestinian-Israeli conflict supersedes education, economic and other goals in Palestine and infiltrates most...

Iraq Black Hole: The $2 Trillion War

Craig Lambert May 18, 2006
Before the US invaded Iraq, the Pentagon and the US Office of Management and Budget estimated that the war could cost up to $60 billion and that Iraqi oil revenues would cover the costs. The Congressional Budget Office now estimates the war will cost $500 million. However, Harvard and Columbia professors have teamed up to prepare a true cost-benefit analysis based on government sources – and...

If This Is Ahmadinejad’s Bluff, It Is Bluff Worth Calling

Simon Jenkins May 15, 2006
A nuclear Iran is undesirable. But starting a war with Iran is the height of folly, argues author Simon Jenkins. Iran offers more avenues for intelligent diplomacy than Iraq did before the US invasion in 2003, but two factors must be recognized: First, Iran is divided and many Iranians desire no conflict with the US and, second, belligerent rhetoric from western leaders like US President Bush...