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| Current Topic: International Relations |
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Saddam Hussein: More Secret History |
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| Topic: International Relations |
11:00 am EST, Dec 31, 2003 |
These documents provide further fascinating details about the secret history of US-Iraqi relations from the late 1960s, when Hussein emerged as the real power in Iraq, to the 1970s, when Henry Kissinger began probing Baghdad about a warming of relations, to the 1980s, when the US government and private businesses forged ahead with improved ties despite widespread proof of Iraq's repeated violations of international law through its use of chemical weapons. Saddam Hussein: More Secret History |
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| Topic: International Relations |
10:32 am EST, Dec 27, 2003 |
A succession of startling developments in Pakistan has left analysts from Islamabad to Washington guessing. Even at its most transparent, Pakistani politics are difficult to decode. Right now, things are even murkier than usual. Washington's immediate challenge is to discover what is really going on there. The New York Times is just plain confused, and isn't afraid to say so. I imagine the editors spent time yesterday going through the press book, calling the usual suspects and asking, "can you explain this?" Finding no easy answers, this editorial is the result. The Musharraf Mysteries |
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| Topic: International Relations |
10:15 am EST, Dec 27, 2003 |
More than ever, Musharraf's ability to deliver on his promises ... is in doubt. Washington finds Musharraf seductive in part because reliance on him is the simplest approach to a series of complicated problems. ... Osama bin Laden is probably somewhere in Pakistan ... If Musharraf were to fall victim to assassination, Pakistan's own nuclear arsenal might be up for grabs ... At least the Post understands what is at stake. Recall Rumsfeld's Rules: For every human problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong. One Man's Fortune |
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| Topic: International Relations |
9:23 pm EST, Dec 22, 2003 |
Those who say the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is useless argue that the bad guys either don't sign the treaty, or they do and then cheat. The good guys sign and obey, but the treaty is irrelevant for these countries because they have no intention of becoming nuclear proliferators in the first place. This all-or-nothing argument is wrong. "Formers" of the Clinton and Bush-41 administrations, including Ashton Carter, Arnold Kanter, William Perry, and Brent Scowcroft, wrote this op-ed for the New York Times. Good Nukes, Bad Nukes |
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| Topic: International Relations |
11:47 pm EST, Dec 7, 2003 |
It is ironic that since September 11, the United States has adopted the Bismarckian approach to foreign policy, dominant in late-nineteenth-century Europe, placing dramatic displays of military might at the heart of its strategy. Europeans, meanwhile, have behaved more like early-twentieth-century American idealists, advocating measured and principled foreign interventions. Today's [US] leaders no longer resemble former Secretaries of State Dean Acheson and John Foster Dulles, with their deep personal knowledge of Europe and its heritage. Today, in the eyes of many Americans, Europe is neither a subject nor an object of history. To assume, as some Americans do, that a country's degree of modernity is determined by its standing in Washington is misguided and narcissistic in the extreme. Europe feels that it must exist as an alternative to the United States -- a different and better West. It is unfortunate that Europeans have not chosen to define themselves positively in the name of a clear project from Europe. Between the American South and the American North, between the US and Europe, echoes of the same pattern, and all playing the wrong game. Apparently it is not just our neighbors to the South that Americans no longer have time for. Our influence is everywhere, but our minds are on Trista and Ryan's wedding. Reinventing the West |
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The Bubble of American Supremacy |
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| Topic: International Relations |
9:57 am EST, Dec 5, 2003 |
The legendary investor and philanthropist issues a pointed, astute, and intensely critical analysis of the Bush administration's foreign policy. George Soros combines his razor-sharp sense of economic trends with his passionate advocacy for open societies and decency in world politics to come up with a workable, and severely critical, analysis of the Bush administration's overreaching, militaristic foreign policy. The Bubble of American Supremacy, has a clear, intriguing, comprehensive thesis that makes necessary, and compelling, order of our seemingly disordered world. George Soros's new book will be published on December 19, 2003. The Bubble of American Supremacy |
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Arms Trafficking and Colombia |
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| Topic: International Relations |
11:32 pm EST, Nov 24, 2003 |
Colombia has experienced significant political instability and violence over the past century due to a number of factors, including the proliferation of small-arms trafficking. The authors identify the sources and routes used by arms traffickers to acquire, buy, sell, receive, transfer, and ship weapons. They also examine the various groups and individuals who purchase and use these munitions. The authors examine Colombias political conflict through the lens of small-arms trafficking and conclude with policy implications for the United States. This report was prepared by Bruce Hoffman for the Defense Intelligence Agency. If you read my log, you may have seen a recent (November 3) Los Angeles Times op-ed by Hoffman regarding the global war on terror. When Bruce Schneier starts issuing reports like this one, I may be more interested in his analyses of various counter-terrorism strategies. Arms Trafficking and Colombia |
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A 'New' Palestinian Authority |
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| Topic: International Relations |
1:37 pm EST, Nov 15, 2003 |
A year and a half after President Bush demanded that the Palestinians remove Yasir Arafat from power, a new Palestinian government has now been installed and its unchallenged leader is ... Yasir Arafat. ... This is a tragic failure. ... Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government says it will try harder with Mr. Qurei. Unfortunately, this movie already feels like a remake. This editorial appears in the Saturday, 15 November edition of NYT. Follow the movie meme, as life imitates art imitates life. I am left wondering whether the "try harder" comment above is also a dig at the Wachowski Brothers, since many critics of "Revolutions" opined that the fight for Zion went on too long, leading them to ask, rhetorically, "When is this war going to end?" A 'New' Palestinian Authority |
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Matrix reloaded -- yet again |
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| Topic: International Relations |
1:33 pm EST, Nov 15, 2003 |
Israeli academic Jeff Halper has coined the phrase "the matrix of control" to describe the system of settlements, outposts, bypass roads, confiscated land masquerading as national parks, military zones, checkpoints and now hundreds of kilometres of a "separation wall" that together effectively entrap the Palestinian population in ghettoes across the West Bank and Gaza. Halper's point is to explain how Israel uses non-military tools -- planning laws, architecture and geography -- as well as military hardware to herd Palestinians into the spaces it allocates them: the "Bantustan" homelands familiar from apartheid South Africa. This article was published on 13 November in the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Weekly. Note the movie reference in the title. This is an interesting choice of metaphor. It puts the Israelis in the role of the machines, but in so doing, it also puts the Palestinians in the role of the human rebels in a desperate struggle to defend Zion. Matrix reloaded -- yet again |
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