News Abroad

Why Peace Movements Are Important

by Alan Dawley

On the third anniversary of “Shock and Awe” on March 19, 2006, bells will ring to commemorate the growing toll of American and Iraqi dead. Peace activists will stage solemn protests against what they believe is an unjust and un-winnable war. The American public will note with regret the continuation of a war which a substantial majority now believes was a mistake. And the war will go on. As the Iraq war enters its fourth year with no end in sight, doubts creep in abo

Why the War is Sexist (And Why We Can’t Ignore Gender Anymore)

by Huibin Amee Chew

“Our sons made the ultimate sacrifice, and we want answers” – Cindy Sheehan on truthout.org “Nice puss – bad foot” – Caption under the photo of an Iraqi woman whose leg was destroyed by a landmine, on a website allowing soldiers to swap pictures of dead Iraqis for free access to pornographyRefusing to be silenced as a military parent, Cindy Sheehan’s courageous voice has lent new urgency to stopping the war in Iraq. “Mo

Adieu Slobodan

by Norman J.W. Goda

Slobodan Milosevic's death on March 11 during the latter stages of his genocide trial at The Hague has provoked immediate and varied world reaction. While human rights advocates and Milosevic's victims regret that Milosevic died before his final judicial reckoning, Serb nationalists and critics of latter-day UN-sponsored war crimes trials have blamed the Hague Tribunal (where Milosevic has stood trial for the past four years) for essentially"killing" the former Serb leader by holding him in cus

Reporting from Baghdad: Why Hasn't There Been a Civil War?

by Richard F. Miller

Baghdad, Iraq. Most observers agree that the low intensity struggle now being waged between various Iraqi sectaries has certain earmarks of a civil war. However one chooses to describe this war, a full-blown civil war it is not—at least not yet. In the last fifteen years at least two conflicts merited the term civil war— Bosnia and Rwanda. One distinguishing metric for both was the corpse count. A genuine civil war will usually enlist broad numbers of combatants on all sides, pro

So What Should We Do About Hamas?

by Barry Rubin

The Hamas victory in the January Palestinian parliamentary elections is shaking up the region considerably. Basically, Hamas won for three reasons. First, its program—which except for Islamism is virtually identical to that of its Fatah rivals—appealed to voters because of its maximalist demands, record of effective terrorism, and manipulation of hatred against Israel and the West. Second, the extremely poor performance of Fatah during almost a dozen years of runnin

Back to the Future: The U.S. in Iraq and the Philippines

by William Loren Katz

Critics of the United States occupation of Iraq usually find it analogous to the war in Viet Nam, which cost 60,000 American lives, deeply divided the country and ended ignominiously. Certainly, White House rhetoric on Iraq recalls the government's talk during the Vietnam era of fighting tyranny and advancing freedom in Southeast Asia. But although echoes of Viet Nam can be heard in the Iraq experience of 2006, both episodes beg for comparisons to a much earlier U.S. occupation. More than a

Why Condi Rice's Foreign Policy Approach Is Flawed

by Walter LaFeber

In her January 18, 2006 speech at Georgetown University, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attracted attention by arguing that U.S. foreign policy would henceforth be shaped by a “transformational diplomacy . . . rooted in partnership, not paternalism.” Her address was taken by some observers to mean that the neoconservative policy assumptions which have condemned the United States to the tragedy in Iraq and elsewhere were being replaced by a realist perspective taking American pol

What Are Japanese Fantasy Films Telling Us?

by Aaron Gerow

It comes as no surprise that the recent resurgence of neo-nationalist thought in Japan would find expression in cinema.[1] With the issue of the nation and its ability to fight war, currently prohibited by Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, being vigorously challenged by the ruling party and the right, in part through actual deployment of Self-Defense Forces in Iraq and other danger zones, it is significant that the year 2005 saw the release of four big budget spec

Gandhi, Bush, and the Bomb

by Lawrence S. Wittner

On February 24, at a press briefing, White House National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley announced that, when U.S. President George W. Bush travels to India, he will lay a wreath in honor of Mohandas Gandhi.For those familiar with the cynical gestures of government officials, it might come as no surprise that an American President would attempt to derive whatever public relations benefits he can by linking himself to one of the most revered figures in Indian and world history.

Was Graft a Problem in the American Revolution, too?

by Rebecca Fachner

Recently the New York Times ran a front-page article reporting that graft is rampant in Iraq. Graft is common at all levels of government. Government officials are implicated. There is evidence some graft is being diverted to the insurgents. If that does not sound familiar, it should. Although the circumstances are markedly different, Americans during the Revolutionary War also proved susceptible to graft (though on a vastly smaller scale). The best known example of an Amer

The Muslim World’s Own Cartoon Offenses

by Richard L. Cravatts

In Palestinian towns this week and last, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets seeking vengeance and international apologizes for blasphemy. The same scene was repeated, with alarming regularity and furor, in Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia as Muslims clamored indignantly and threatened death to those who had perpetrated these horrific acts against Islam. Jordan’s mass-circulation daily, ad-Dustour, among others, urged Muslims everywhere to confront the

As If It Weren't Hard Enough Keeping the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds Together

by Hakan Ozoglu

Despite the increasing frequency of suicide bombings and the general escalation of violence in Iraq, the administration and hopeful people everywhere are still optimistic that Iraq is heading towards becoming a democratic society. One reason offered in support of this hope is the relative stability and democratic traditions of the large Kurdish minority in northern Iraq, a strong U.S. ally since before the start of the war. This optimism, however, is ill founded. The problem

What Do You Do with Dead Soldiers?

by Michael Sledge

“What do you do with dead soldiers?” This is the question asked by Charlie Anderson (played by Jimmy Stewart) in the 1965 movie, Shenandoah, when he and his sons come upon the bodies of Confederate soldiers who were ambushed. Now, with the death toll of Operation Iraqi Freedom continuing to mount—but still less than three or four days’ worth of dying in World War II or a couple of tough weeks in Vietnam—we once again find ourselves, as J

East Timor's Troubled Road

by Jeff Kingston

Click here for an updated version of this article 1-22-06. East Timor's 800,000 citizens are finding that the truth does not set them free and that justice and reconciliation are elusive. A recent report published by East Timor's Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR is the commonly used Portuguese acronym), estimates that the tiny island nation suffered a minimum of 102,800 conflict-related de

Does Rumsfeld Remember His Own Vietnam Lessons for Iraq?

by James M. Carter

Despite the Bush administration’s assurances that the United States will prevail in Iraq, the creation of a modern, democratic state is slipping further and further from reach. The violence continues to grow more destructive daily. The number of U.S. soldiers killed topped 2,100 (844 for 2005), while conservative estimates put the number of Iraqi civilian dead at more than 30,000. Most Iraqis either energetically oppose the American presence or do not support it. Charges of waste, misma

In Iraq: Out on Patrol

by Richard F. Miller

At 17:15 hours our five Humvee convoy rolled past Camp Fallujah’s final checkpoint. Gunnery Sergeant Dagenhart, riding shotgun in the third vehicle, radios that all crews may insert—but not cycle—ammo clips into their rifles and pistols. Dagenhart and his driver, 19 year-old L/Cpl John Johnson from Shreveport, Louisiana, immediately place extra clips, flares and stun grenades on the dashboard. These items mutely testify to the unpleasant possibilities that might await this

Was Anything Learned from Vietnam?

by Carolyn Eisenberg

For many historians of a certain age, the Vietnam War was the formative intellectual experience, which shaped our understanding of the United States and its history. There were searing realizations from that time that never left us: how political leaders could lie -- boldly, blatantly and repetitively -- and win a mandate for unnecessary war; how the cynical invocation of democracy and freedom could conceal American domination and support for dictatorship; how easy it was for the Whit

You Want to Understand Fanatics? Understand Julius Rosenberg and His Ilk

by Steven Usdin

Terrorist acts against the West have focused attention on fanatics who seek to overturn political and social order, even totally destroy society, in the name of an all-encompassing ideology. Comprehending the motivations of fanatical ideologues is critical to disrupt

Have Peace Activists Ever Stopped a War?

by Lawrence S. Wittner

The role of peace activism in ending U.S. wars has received very little attention from scholars. Despite the fact that historians and social scientists have studied U.S. peace movements extensively in recent decades, we know much more about peace movements' organizational history than we do about their impact upon public policy. Thus, what I have to say today is a preliminary report. Let me begin by examining the provocative comment by some observers that, rather than peace movements

The French Riots: Plus Ça Change, Plus C'est La Même Chose

by Aaron Erlich

The current spate of rioting in France needs to be understood in a historical context. The English-language media has explained the recent paroxysms of violence in France as a singular event, with no precedent, the recent sign that attempted policies have failed. This speaks to the institutional amnesia that all Western societies share when remembering violence. In the United States, the herds of interns and young Capitol Hill staffers that flit through the city have no idea that 1,200 buildings