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| Current Topic: International Relations |
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Hong Kong at the Crossroads |
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| Topic: International Relations |
12:40 pm EDT, Jul 3, 2004 |
Hong Kong today is in a period of stress and uncertainty. Recent Chinese central government policies have raised anxiety in Hong Kong and created a threatening atmosphere. The risks to the future are considerable. The problems that have emerged could conceivably escalate and cause great difficulty for Hong Kong, serious economic and political setbacks for Beijing, and significant strains in US-China relations. All of this is somewhat surprising because only last fall there was an atmosphere in Hong Kong of remarkable good feeling toward the central government. Amicable resolution remains possible, and there have been preliminary hopeful signs in June 2004. The testimony of William Overholt, presented to the House Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on June 23, 2004. This article is an excellent study of the last decade in Hong Kong, from before the handover, through the Asian financial crisis, and up to the most recent demonstrations. Hong Kong at the Crossroads |
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The Saudi Civil War - Who is fighting? Who will win? |
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| Topic: International Relations |
1:32 am EDT, Jun 22, 2004 |
The Saudi royal family is downplaying the insurgency as much as possible, which is understandable: If the jihadists were to overthrow them, the consequences would make the Iraq war look like a minor regional skirmish: Western Europe and Asia depend on Saudi oil as much as the United States does. Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, recently called for a ruthless campaign -- "a war," he wrote, "that does not mean delicacy, but brutality." However, it's not clear that Saudi forces are capable of waging such a war. Who will wage Bandar's war if the Saudis can't do it? The Saudi Civil War - Who is fighting? Who will win? |
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Saudi Arabia at a Crossroads? |
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| Topic: International Relations |
1:29 am EDT, Jun 22, 2004 |
Michael Scott Doran has become quite a star in Saudi Arabia. His contention that the ruling family, the Al Saud, are split into a pro-reform wing headed up by Crown Prince Abdallah and an Islamist-inclined, anti-reform wing headed up by Interior Minister Prince Na'if, excited the interest and comment of many in the kingdom. Prince Na'if himself felt constrained to go on al-Arabiyya, one of the new Arabic-language satellite news channels that are now competing with al-Jazeera, to deny Doran's account. When the Interior Minister goes on television to refute one's work, it is clear that it has caused a stir. Saudi Arabia at a Crossroads? |
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The Saudi Paradox, by Michael Scott Doran | Foreign Affairs |
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| Topic: International Relations |
1:26 am EDT, Jun 22, 2004 |
Saudi Arabia is in the throes of a crisis, but its elite is bitterly divided on how to escape it. Crown Prince Abdullah leads a camp of liberal reformers seeking rapprochement with the West, while Prince Nayef, the interior minister, sides with an anti-American Wahhabi religious establishment that has much in common with al Qaeda. Abdullah cuts a higher profile abroad -- but at home Nayef casts a longer and darker shadow. The Saudi Paradox, by Michael Scott Doran | Foreign Affairs |
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Saudi Arabia and Oil: What If? | Economist |
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| Topic: International Relations |
1:03 am EDT, Jun 22, 2004 |
Terrorists are now targeting Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure. How bad could things get? The "terror premium" may account for as much as $8 of the current per-barrel price. That may be because what was once unthinkable now seems possible. For the terror premium to be justified, one needs to consider three questions: Is Saudi Arabia really so important? Would it in fact be easy to pull off a serious attack inside the desert kingdom? And even if such an attack were to take place, would the oil markets suffer so badly? Saudi Arabia and Oil: What If? | Economist |
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The Saudi Arabian Oil Miracle |
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| Topic: International Relations |
9:43 am EDT, Jun 21, 2004 |
In this controversial slide presentation, energy expert Matthew Simmons argues that Saudi Arabia's energy supply may have peaked. He warns that "if conventional wisdom [about Saudi Arabia's capacity to supply reasonably priced energy] are wrong, the world faces a giant energy crisis." The Saudi Arabian Oil Miracle |
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Kerry faces summer challenge |
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| Topic: International Relations |
9:38 am EDT, Jun 21, 2004 |
Last Friday, Mr Kerry was asked his response to the news of the beheading of Paul Johnson, the American engineer, in Saudi Arabia. It was clearly one of those "political" moments -- a time for a blast of high-octane rhetoric, a whiff of anger at the killers and an oozing of "shared pain" for the family. As it was, Mr Kerry glanced up from what looked like scribbling autographs for supporters, muttered something about the murder underlining the problems of the troubled region, and then lowered his head again. Kerry faces summer challenge |
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Saudi Arabia Shows Its Colors |
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| Topic: International Relations |
9:36 am EDT, Jun 21, 2004 |
Crown Prince Abdullah, the man who runs Saudi Arabia, had this to say about earlier Al Qaida attacks: "Zionism is behind it. It is not 100 percent, but 95 percent that the Zionist hands are behind what happened." Saudi Arabia Shows Its Colors |
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| Topic: International Relations |
9:05 am EDT, Jun 21, 2004 |
"Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie" went the Times headline. "Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed" front-paged The Washington Post. The A.P. led with the thrilling words "Bluntly contradicting the Bush Administration, the commission ..." All wrong. Yesterday, Governor Tom Kean, commission chairman: "Members [of the 9/11 commission] do not get involved in staff reports." Not involved? Stop wasting time posturing on television. The Zelikow Report |
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'A Problem from Hell' : America and the Age of Genocide |
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| Topic: International Relations |
8:40 am EDT, Jun 18, 2004 |
Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize For General Nonfiction
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner In her award-winning interrogation of the last century of American history, Samantha Power -- a former Balkan war correspondent and founding executive director of Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy -- asks the haunting question: Why do American leaders who vow "never again" repeatedly fail to stop genocide? Drawing upon exclusive interviews with Washington's top policy makers, access to newly declassified documents, and her own reporting from the modern killing fields, Power provides the answer in "A Problem from Hell" -- a groundbreaking work that tells the stories of the courageous Americans who risked their careers and lives in an effort to get the United States to act. Debunking the notion that US leaders were unaware of the horrors ... Power makes it clear that a lack of political will was the most significant factor for this failure ... This powerful book is a call to make such indifference a thing of the past. 'A Problem from Hell' : America and the Age of Genocide |
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