War & Peace Archives - Page 394 of 729 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Absolute Monarchy to Absolute Democracy

by John Gershman, Kanak Mani Dixit | Oct 2, 2005

King Gyanendra has taken the people of Nepal on a disastrous course, using the excuse of fighting an insurgency to compromise democracy. Nepali society must be returned to complete democratic rule, which also provides the only means to tackle the raging rebellion and promote social and economic progress in the long term. In order to stop a complete unraveling of the Nepali future, political parties backed by civil society must wrest the state back from the palace and military administration.

Outmaneuver the War Proponents

by Erik Leaver, Gareth Porter | Oct 2, 2005

For an anti-war activist of the Vietnam era, the current search for a political strategy for ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq brings to mind the very similar problems facing the movement to end the Vietnam War in 1968-69. In fact, a review of the strategy that the anti-war movement pursued at that juncture of the Vietnam War helps clarify the choices before the present movement and their likely consequences. It should serve as a warning against ignoring the possibility of embracing the negotiation of a compromise peace agreement with those resisting the U.S. occupation as an anti-war strategy.

North Korea & the NPT

by John Gershman, Wade L. Huntley | Oct 2, 2005

The problems for international security posed by North KoreaÂs nuclear ambitions receive abundant attention and analysis. On the eve of the 2005 Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the effect of North Korean actions on the treaty deserves specific attention, particularly because mitigating the impact of those actions and solving the larger nuclear crisis are not necessarily convergent goals.

Eritrea/Ethiopia War Looms

by Dan Connell, Emira Woods | Oct 2, 2005

The latest State Department call for progress in the stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace accord–issued this week and coming on the heels of similar expressions of concern by European diplomats last week–is welcome news for those fearing the renewal of war. But it doesn’t go nearly far enough.

Into Thin Air

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Oct 2, 2005

Tucked into the upper stories of the Himalayas, Nepal hardly seems ground zero for the Bush administration’s next crusade against Âterrorism,Â but an aggressive American ambassador, a strategic locale, and a flood of U.S. weaponry threatens to turn the tiny country of 25 million into a counter-insurgency bloodbath.

The Politics and the Promise of Civilizational Dialogues

by John Gershman, Muqtedar Khan | Oct 2, 2005

After attending two back-to-back "international dialogues of civilizations," one in Doha, Qatar (Jan. 9-12) organized by Brookings Institution and the Emir of Qatar, and another at UNESCO in Paris (Jan. 17-19) hosted by UNESCO, Euro Mediterranean, and President Jacques Chirac, I cannot help but reflect on the promise and the politics of dialogues.

Foreign Aid Budget Looks Like a Retread from the Cold War

by John Gershman, Jim Lobe | Oct 2, 2005

If the "war on terror" is beginning to look increasingly like the cold war, then President George W. Bush’s fiscal year (FY) 2005 foreign-aid request will not change that impression.

Zarqawi Letter Complicates War Hawks Efforts to Link al Qaeda with Hussein, Iran

by John Gershman, Jim Lobe | Oct 2, 2005

A letter purportedly written to senior al Qaeda leaders by a key associate, Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, appears to undermine a major thesis of hard-core neoconservatives who led the U.S. drive to war in Iraq.

Anti-Terrorist Security Sweep In Pakistan Winding Down

by John Gershman, Abubaker Saddique | Oct 2, 2005

Pakistan’s government on March 30 began pulling troops out of South Waziristan following a 12-day security sweep of the area to root out Taliban and al Qaeda militants. The withdrawal was accompanied by an official admission that no Islamic radical leaders had been killed during the operation, as was earlier claimed.

Defense of Israeli Assassination Policy by the Bush Administration and Democratic Leaders

by John Gershman, Stephen Zunes | Oct 2, 2005

The U.S. veto of a proposed UN Security Council resolution criticizing Israel’s March 22 assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin has once again placed the United States both on the fringe of international public opinion and in opposition to international legal norms. Despite the proposed resolution condemning “all attacks against civilians,” the United States once again was the lone dissenting vote, marking the 28 th time since 1970 that the U.S. has blocked a Security Council resolution criticizing the actions of its most important Middle Eastern ally.