In The News

Burma’s Nuclear Temptation

Bertil Lintner December 3, 2008
The landmark Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, put in force in 1970, has three goals: preventing spread of nuclear weapons or technology, promoting cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and encouraging nuclear disarmament. Because disarmament has not been a priority, the technology has slowly spread, as individuals or nations sell expertise for money or influence....

The Gateway Of India

Saikat Datta December 1, 2008
Since 9/11, the US has urged countries to be vigilant about tracking any terrorist activity, and analysts with the US Central Intelligence Agency had warned India offiicials that the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba might try to attack Mumbai. The terrorists, by hijacking a trawler and using dinghies, took advantage of blending in with hundreds of fishing vessels that dock in the port. This...

Terror in Mumbai: Two Faces of Globalization

Sadanand Dhume December 1, 2008
After hijacking a fishing trawler in the Arabian Sea and plotting targets using Google Earth, a group of young men then set course for India’s financial center of Mumbai, landing by dinghies on November 26 and unleashing brutal attacks on locations that symbolize a diverse and connected world – two upscale hotels, a religious center, a hospital, a café and a rail station, among others. Nearly 200...

Lessons Obama Can Learn from the Wily North Korean

Peter M. Beck November 26, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama will enter office on January 20 with multiple security dilemmas around the globe clamoring for attention. Impoverished North Korea, with its nuclear weapons program and ruled by a ruthless dictator, is one security matter that should be on the top of his list, argues Korea analyst Peter M. Beck. Except when President Bill Clinton threatened to use force against North...

Lucrative Piracy Business Thrives Off Somali Coast

November 20, 2008
Piracy represents a major source of income for the desert nation of Somalia, fragmented politically and lacking any central authority since the early 1990s. The nation on Africa’s eastern coast is desperately poor, with a per-capita GDP of $600. Poaching of fish stocks has stripped coastal waters, and years of conflict have left plenty of weapons in Somali hands. So some Somalis, armed with...

Obama Presidency Signals Changes in US-Cuba Policy

Frances Robles November 12, 2008
Currently, Cuban-Americans can travel to Cuba once every three years. They’re also subject to restrictions on how much money they can send to relatives on the island. With the election of Barack Obama, US foreign policy towards Cuba will likely change, though it’s not yet clear to what extent. Obama supports the embargo, but plans to lift travel restrictions to Cuba as well remittance...

Foreign Policy Challenges for the New US President – Part I

Imtiaz Ali October 31, 2008
States that ignore the aspirations of their people and neglect festering pockets of poverty, paying little heed to the need for education, health, jobs or fair wages, years later may discover a changed country, with new motivations and goals. This YaleGlobal series explores how poverty and demography can undermine democratic governments and bring security challenges not only to the government in...