In The News

Urgent Worries About Pakistani Nuclear Material

Nayan Chanda October 18, 2002
Following the North Korean admission that it has a secret nuclear weapons program, analysts are searching for the source of North Korean technological advance. A New York Times report on October 18 ("quoted intelligence sources to say that technology to create weapons-grade uranium, appears to have been part of a barter deal in which North Korea supplied Pakistan with missiles in the late...

Asian Fast-Food Outlets Find Brisk Market

October 18, 2002
While some anti-globalization activists deplore the spread of American culture via such food outlets as McDonald’s and KFC, there is evidence that the exchange of food culture is not simply uni-directional. Filipino, Japanese, and Hong Kong fast food chains are spreading into US markets, bringing ‘comfort food’ tastes to immigrants and exposing American palates to Asian quick-stop foods. –...

N Korea 'Admits' Nuclear Weapons Programme

Andrew Ward October 17, 2002
Confronted with US evidence, North Korea has admitted to developing a nuclear weapons program. The country's admission shows a blatant disregard of a 1994 agreement in which it promised to halt nuclear weapons research, and the issue poses a serious set-back for the global effort to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The admission also sheds doubt on the sincerity of...

China Reshaping Military to Toughen Its Muscle in the Region

Craig S. Smith October 16, 2002
Chinese military and political leaders are intent on modernizing and reorganizing their armed forces to better compete with the United States and assert more influence in Asia. The primary purpose of this reorganization is to attain military superiority over Taiwan so that, through either intimidation or force, Beijing can regain sovereignty over the island. In the long term, China hopes its...

World Donors Praise Kabul’s Budget and Development Plans

Carlotta Gall October 14, 2002
With the majority of its institutions and infrastructure in ruins following first civil war and then the war on terror, Afghanistan is urgently seeking international aid that would allow the country to get back on the road towards self-sufficiency. President Karzai and his government estimate the country will need at least $10 billion over the next few years to develop a viable economy. Thus...

Debate on Intellectual Property

Steve Lohr October 14, 2002
Based on the economic history of the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and other nations, the borrowing of ideas – and the making of improvements upon them – is essential to building strong domestic industries. Each of these countries owes a great deal of its economic success today to earlier eras in which foreign patents, copyrights, and trademarks received little or no protection. Now,...

Dark Clouds Hang over Indonesian Tourism after Bali Bomb Blasts

Fitri Wulandari October 14, 2002
Successful, large-scale tourism requires both great attractiveness and a basic guarantee of safety for visitors. Often billed as an island paradise, Bali's economy is now almost completely dependent upon international tourism. But according to Indonesian tourism officials, Saturday's terrorist bombing of a crowded Bali nightclub threatens to destroy the industry. Vacationers from...