In The News

Arabs Disunited

John R. Bradley March 30, 2004
For the first time since 1983, the Arab League cancelled its summit, citing "difference of views" as the reason. While Egypt wished to discuss US proposals for reform in the region, Syria wanted to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arab despots have often used the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to deflect attention from their own draconian rule, some have noted. The summit was...

UN Inspection in Iraq Was No Sham

Jessica Tuchman Mathews March 26, 2004
Despite White House claims that United Nations inspections of pre-war Iraq were a "sham", the post-war evaluation of Iraq's weapons programs - or lack thereof - reveals that international inspections met with significant success. Jessica T. Mathews, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argues that prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq international...

A Million Yassins?

Amira Howeidy March 26, 2004
Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, but the future of diplomatic relations between the two countries now looks shaky. Israel’s assassination last Monday of Hamas founder and prominent Palestinian, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, has set off zealous anti-Israel reactions among Egyptians. An estimated 50,000 university students protested at major Egyptian cities, and even those who...

74 Illegal Immigrants Held in Surprise Raid in Abu Dhabi

Muawia E. Ibrahim March 24, 2004
The movement of people across countries is very much a fact of modern life. International migration is instrumental in decreasing the distance between different cultures and people. Yet, in the contemporary period of global terrorism and ethno-religious violence, migrants can also be the source of tremendous anxiety. This week in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, immigration squads...

Korean Bodyguards to Train Iraqi Police

O Youn-hee March 23, 2004
Despite the South Korean government's decision not to send troops to Iraq due to security concerns, a Korean private security firm, NKTS, still plans to send bodyguards to help train Iraqi police. Sending up to 150 bodyguards, NKTS, which has also guarded Jordan's royal family, will train the Iraqi police in bomb removal, martial arts, small arms, and common courtesy. The training...

Israeli Assassination Draws World Outrage

March 22, 2004
Israeli missiles killed Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hamas, on March 22 morning as he left a Mosque. Hamas is blamed for many of the suicide bombings against Israel, and Sheik Yassin is thought to have ordered several of them. The killing was lauded in Israel as a major victory against terrorism, but was loudly condemned elsewhere in the world – especially...

Failing Iraq

Graham Usher March 19, 2004
Marking the one year anniversary of the US-led war in Iraq, this week has seen increased violence and anger against the coalition forces. According to reporter Graham Usher, this reaction has been predictable from the offset, for "while the US and Britain knew how to conquer Iraq, they have no idea how to run it." Religious sectarianism, ethnic violence, weakening police power, and...