Commentaries Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Tibet’s Dangerous Game

by John Feffer, Van Jackson | Apr 8, 2008

China take heed: a new generation of Tibetan youth is coming of age and these young people have little interest in playing by the rules of the game to which you are accustomed. As protests evolved into riots and riots turned into violence over the last several weeks in Tibet, it became increasingly clear that Tibetan youths do not plan on maintaining the status quo ante that has characterized Sino-Tibetan relations over the last generation. The recent escalation of violence between China and Tibet illustrates why China cannot continue to react to Tibetan discord in a typically authoritarian manner, particularly in light of the increasing role of exiled Tibetan youths in Tibet’s independence movement.

Postcard from…Nicosia

by Joanne Esch, John Feffer | Apr 8, 2008

Petraeus’ Testimony

by Aaron Glantz, Emily Schwartz Greco | Apr 7, 2008

When General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker testify before a Senate Committee this week, it’s likely they’ll point to "security improvements" and a "drop in violence" over the last year.

Dealing with Iran’s Hardliners

by Patrick Disney, John Feffer, Danny Hosein | Apr 4, 2008

Last month in Iran, supporters of a long-shot parliamentary candidate stuck campaign materials to a handful of chickens and set them loose in the village in what a local official called “a new way to campaign.” Though the chickens were an innovative way to remind voters that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed to deliver on his campaign promise to put a chicken in every pot, this candidate and others were forced to find obscure ways to reach voters because they were prohibited from putting their faces on campaign materials. Because of this and other arbitrary election rules, the large margins of victory by conservative hardliners in the March 14 election came as no surprise.

The Candidates on Iran

by John Feffer, Frankie Sturm | Apr 4, 2008

Although Iraq and the economy tend to dominate the headlines, Iran is never far from the news cycle – or from the speeches of the leading U.S. presidential candidates. In a recent trip to the Middle East, John McCain reiterated his concern about “Iranian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons.” Iran also received the attention of President Bush when he insisted last month that Iran is developing nuclear weapons in order to “destroy people.” Implausible and unsubstantiated as this claim might be, it represents a popular thread of argument in the Iran debate.

Arms Race in Space

by Marko Beljac, Emily Schwartz Greco | Mar 31, 2008

When the United States recently shot apart a crippled spy satellite over the Pacific Ocean, it also tested an offensive anti-satellite weapon and the potential for ballistic missile defense. “The shot,” as the Pentagon called the $100 million operation conducted on February 20, came immediately after Russia and China put forward a detailed, but flawed, proposal for a treaty to ban space weapons at the United Nations. In response, the United States immediately reaffirmed its unwillingness to participate in any arms control accord covering space.

The Candidates and India

by John Feffer, Sammy Loren | Mar 31, 2008

For the past few months it seems that New Delhi has been shrouded in a thick, meandering fog. For the auto rickshaw drivers and fruit vendors, the intelligentsia and the elite who occupy the steamy Gangetic Plains, the fog has become, as all things in India must, symbolic of an uncertain future. A Pakistan on the verge of doom? An Olympic China who this summer will put India in the shadows? An increasingly bellicose Russia? Wrong on all counts.

Interview with Joseph Stiglitz

by Carmela Cruz, John Feffer | Mar 26, 2008

Joseph Stiglitz was born in Indiana in 1943. He currently teaches at Columbia University, where he is chair of the university’s Committee on Global Thought. During Bill Clinton’s administration, he was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers then later its chairman from 1993-97. He then became chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank from 1997-2000.

Winter Soldiers’ Testimony

by Aaron Glantz, Emily Schwartz Greco | Mar 25, 2008

Former U.S. Marine Corps machine gunner John Michael Turner leaned over the microphone, his voice choking with emotion, the words barely forcing themselves out, the tears barely held back.

Clinton’s GWU Iraq Speech

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | Mar 25, 2008

On March 17, New York Senator and Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton gave a speech at George Washington University outlining her plans to de-escalate U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Though she called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. combat brigades over the next several years, she continued to refuse to apologize for her 2002 vote authorizing the invasion, to acknowledge the illegality of the war, or to fully explain her false claims made at that time regarding Iraq’s military capabilities and alleged ties to al-Qaeda. Nor was she able to offer an explanation as to what led to her dramatic shift from a supporter of the ongoing war and occupation as recently as a year and a half ago to her current more critical perspective.