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Is the Arab Reform Chorus Serious or Fraudulent?

October 1, 2003
Rami G. Khouri, executive editor of Lebanon's Daily Star, argues that the 'guns and cash' provided by donor nations influence the rhetoric of Arab states. Whatever the foreign donor takes up as an important issue, the Arab state parrots in turn. For example, Middle Eastern...

Arab Internet Users Are Caught in a Terrible Web

December 7, 2004
In many Arab countries, internet users today are facing tight restrictions on free speech. A human rights group recently charged that certain Arab governments, such as Iran, Syria, and Tunisia, employ not just traditional methods of limiting freedom of expression - censorship and confiscation - but...

Globalization Wilts Flowering Industry

October 23, 2006
Companies such as Dole Fresh Flowers downsize in Latin America to confront increasing competition coming from Asia and Africa. Some Dole workers suspect that the company imposed lay-offs because strong unions opposed long hours and exposure to pesticides. Increasing cost of fuel and a decline in...

Historic Tobacco Control Pact Adopted

May 21, 2003
After several years of negotiation, countries of the world finally reached an agreement to adopt the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The US and Germany, which previously objected to some parts of the treaty, have decided to support the pact. This global convention will bring "a ban or...

US Must Reassert Global Leadership

September 13, 2007
Intent on the war in Iraq, the US has reduced its involvement elsewhere in Asia, South America and Africa. Meanwhile, China and Russia have stepped into the vacuum, warn former Clinton administration officials, Samuel Berger and Eric Schwartz, writing for the Boston Globe. China has provided...

Cooler Heads Need to Convey Japan’s Message

March 20, 2014
Rational players in the North Pacific seek stability and reliable partners who share the same concern. “Today, there is a concern as to how far the ‘new model of great power relations’ between China and the U.S. may develop, possibly to Japan’s detriment,” writes former Japanese diplomat Sadaaki...

Bush Scales Back Steel Tariffs

August 23, 2002
American steel companies and their representatives in Congress called on President Bush to rescue their dying industry and increase steel tariffs this spring. He did so, infuriating the European Union, which then filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization, arguing that the U.S. was...

The West Is Teeming with Africans Doing Odd Jobs Because Our Leaders Can’t Provide Vision or Hope

May 31, 2006
The narratives of illegal immigration in both Europe and North America often focus on the problems faced by receiving countries or the trials of those forced to live covert lives in foreign lands. The exodus of citizens from underdeveloped states, however, imposes the most harm on the countries...
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