News Abroad

Do Israeli Revisionists Think Israel Is Doing the Right Thing?

by Kenneth Stow

About three years ago, at a conference in Aman on the subject of religion and peace, attended by representatives of all faiths in the region (I was a member of the Italian Jewish delegation, entering Jordan on an American passport, although I was permitted publicly to identify myself as an Israeli academic-so is the arabesque, no pun intended, of the Middle East), we were treated to about four or five versions of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, or should I say better, the conflict in the Middl

The Futile Search for "Root Causes" of Terrorism

by Michael Radu

Socioeconomic grievances, or so some assert, explain (though they do not justify) terrorism in general and Islamic terrorism in particular -- the factors Al Gore famously called this February"another axis of evil in the world: poverty and ignorance; disease and environmental disorder; corruption and political oppression," all of which lead to terrorism. But do they?It is hubris to attempt to explain terrorism in general, let alone in its many different

Le Pen: Sui Generis? Non

by Cheryl Koos

On Sunday [May 5], France goes to the polls for one of the most critical elections in decades. European and American commentators almost uniformly expressed shock at the surprising strength of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in France's first-round presidential election on April 21. But those observers who express surprise over the success and strength of neo-fascists in contemporary French politics have short memories. Many French may remember, but they have not been eag

Banning Nuclear Tests: Ike (Yes), JFK (Yes), Bush II (No)

by William Lambers

The recent successful missile defense test was a victory for George W. Bush, who sees such a system as critical to our national security interests. But buried by the debate over missile defense lies a smaller, less dramatic, but more vital national security measure. It is ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).President Bush's proposed defense system would be designed to shoot down nuclear missiles launched against the United States. It would act as a shield aga

Keeping the Mail Germ-Free

by Bob Arnebeck

If the Postal Service begins zapping our mail with radiation, it won't be the first time efforts have been made to keep the mail germ free. During the yellow fever epidemics that struck major American cities in the 1790s, it was common to smoke letters. We know now that the yellow fever virus cannot be spread through the mail (unless an infected mosquito flies out of the envelope!) but in the 1790s the disease was a terrifying mystery. In late August 1793 the Pennsylvania Assembl

Selling Our Message

by Allan M. Winkler

Confronted with the need to win world support for its fight against terrorism, the administration of George W. Bush is launching a new propaganda campaign.Unfortunately, however, propagandists will be starting from scratch; the effort to craft a coherent message about American aims and actions has faltered since the end of the Cold War. While the easiest course of action would be to rely on past propaganda strategies, that approach has limitations, because the current struggle ag

Presidency: Learning From Ike's Mistakes

by Chris Tudda

Ever since the events of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush has sounded like a different man than the often awkward, fumbling candidate he seemed during the 2000 presidential campaign. Instead of presenting the image of a cheerful, likeable man who might have been in over his head, President Bush has come across in public as sober, engaged, serious, and cognizant that the country now faces a challenge unlike any in American history. His patience in building an alliance f

Series: What America Needs to Do to Achieve Its Foreign Policy Goals (I)

by William R. Polk

Editor's Note: This is the first in a six-part series by Mr. Polk exploring the full range of American foreign policy issues. As he points out, "the comprehensiveness is crucial because merely dickering with aspects of the American approach to the world won't work; what we need is a coherent policy." Click here to read the other articles in this series. Æsop was one of the first commentators who sought to gu

How to Revive the UN? Look Backwards

by Geoffrey Roberts

The United Nations' 60th-anniversary celebrations have been overshadowed by controversy about the organization's future. The most contentious issue is whether Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States should retain their veto power in the Security Council. Under the UN Charter any one of these five permanent members has the power to veto any decision or action that it disagrees with.   There's no chance that the Big Five will give up the veto or that they'll agree to ex

What's Worse than Violent Jihadists?

by Timothy R. Furnish

Islamist terrorist bombings in the London subways. Buddhists beheaded by fanatical Muslims in Thailand. Hurricanes and Live 8 aside, the global event horizon these days seems to encompass little else but revolutionary (actually reactionary) Islamic violence. How much worse could it get? Much worse. So far the bombings, attacks, murders and beheadings have been the province of mere jihadis—basically mundane, albeit dangerous, Islamic fundamentalists. Islamic fun

Why Nobodies Are the Real Terrorist Threat

by James Ottavio Castagnera

As I write this, the British news media are reporting that at least three of the four suicide bombers, who killed more than 50 Londoners and wounded scores more, were born in Britain and lived in the English Midlands. They are described as “British nationals of Pakistani origin” by Fox News. One was only 19, another was aged 30 with an 8-month-old baby at home. The third, aged 22, loved cricket, according to an uncle, who added that his nephew had gone to Pakistan earlier this ye

Why History Will Judge Us Harshly for Our Violation's of Iraq's Patrimony

by Chalmers Johnson

In the months before he ordered the invasion of Iraq, George Bush and his senior officials spoke of preserving Iraq's"patrimony" for the Iraqi people. At a time when talking about Iraqi oil was taboo, what he meant by patrimony was exactly that -- Iraqi oil. In their"joint statement on Iraq's future" of April 8, 2003, George Bush and Tony Blair declared,"We reaffirm our commitment to protect Iraq's natural resources, as the patrimony of the people of Iraq, which should be used only for thei

The Story the Media Are Missing in the Middle East

by Judith Apter Klinghoffer

“It is not police and intelligence community which defeat terrorism; it’s communities that beat terrorism,” remarked London’s police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair. But the Muslim community, argues David Gardner, is in the midst of “a war of ideas.” “If it’s a Muslim problem,” retorts Tom Friedman, “it needs a Muslim solution.” Indeed, he concludes, “the double-decker buses of London and the subways of Paris, as well as the cov

What the Public Will Stomach

by Lawrence F. Kaplan

For two years critics of the war in Iraq have wondered how long the public would stand by President Bush in the face of continuing insurgent attacks and increasing American casualties. Recently, polls have shown public support is waning. In the latest NYT/CBS News poll only 42 percent approved of his presidency and 60 percent said that the war in Iraq is"going badly." Two weeks ago the president

Germany's Second Doubts About Its Turkish Immigrants

by Aaron Erlich

At the beginning of his class, Herr Michna makes it clear that it was a big mistake on Germany’s part to bring so many guestworkers (Gastarbeiter) from Turkey, and the question now is how to best fix the mistake. Michna begins by showing his students pictures of radical Islam from the front pages of several popular German magazines and newspapers. He mentions September 11th and the recent death of Theo Van Gogh. The problem of immigrants as Herr Michna frames it is existential

Live 8 ... A Flash in the Pan?

by James Ottavio Castagnera

How many of you watched the “Live 8” concerts on TV last Saturday? I watched for awhile. Yes, I said “watched.” Even though I’m a half-hour bus and subway ride to the Franklin Parkway in downtown Philly, I watched from the comfort of my family room in suburban Havertown. Showing up seemed to me to be a waste of time, if ending African poverty was the purpose. If Live 8’s meaning was just the music, I saw more by staying home. Thirty-five years ago

So We Can't Find Middle Echelon Officers to Staff the Iraqi Army? That's Bad

by William Marina

No sooner had President George W. Bush finished his prime time speech last week, than the television talking heads and the press, that Big Media , which the government relies upon to help define their Imperial Reality for us, were hard at it, interpreting every possible nuance or inflection of his address. Did he say anything new? Hardly. But what he omitted spoke volumes!The real test of the effectiveness, of his speech, however, will come, not from the Media, or those millions of pa

North Korea, Iran and the United States in the Dangerous Game of Nations

by William R. Polk

The Guardian of June 9, 2005 reported the disappearance from the International Atomic Energy Agency of a set or sets of detailed engineering plans for making nuclear materials and weapons of mass destruction (WMD). While there never have been any significant scientific secrets on the nuclear bomb, there has been somewhat restricted engineering information that would enable others to speed up, make more cheaply and avoid obvious tell-tale aspects of acquisition. No

Korean Collaborators: South Korea’s Truth Committees and the Forging of a New Pan-Korean Nationalism

by Sheila Miyoshi Jager

The year 2005 has particular significance for Koreans concerning Japan: it is the 100th anniversary of the 1905 protectorate treaty (or Ulsa Treaty) which led to Korea’s formal colonization by Japan in 1910. It is also the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Korea from colonial rule and it is the 40th anniversary of the normalization treaty of 1965. The year 2005 has also seen a distinct rise in anti-Japanese sentiments in South Korea. In March, angry swells of

The Shadow Hanging Over the Iranian Election

by Ron Briley

The Bush administration has made democracy in the Middle East a focal point of its diplomacy. Administration officials point to reforms in Egypt, elections in Lebanon and Palestine, and American-sponsored elections in Iraq as proof of its success. On the other hand, the administration asserts that foreign fighters discredit the legitimacy of the Iraqi insurgency. The inconsistency that an army of occupation might raise some questions regarding the legitimacy of the American-backed elections n