Key Points
U.S.-Iraq: On the War Path
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Terrorism
Responding to North Korea’s Surprises
The Dangerous Implications of the Hariri Assassination and the U.S. Response
The broader implications of the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was seen by many as the embodiment of the Lebanese peopleÂs efforts to rebuild their country in the aftermath of its 15-year civil war, are yet to unfold. A Sunni Muslim, Hariri reached out to all of LebanonÂs ethnic and religious communities in an effort to unite the country after decades of violence waged by heavily armed militias and foreign invaders.
Absolute Monarchy to Absolute Democracy
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.
Into Thin Air
Tucked into the upper stories of the Himalayas, Nepal hardly seems ground zero for the Bush administration’s next crusade against Âterrorism, 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
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
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
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
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
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.