News + Media
AuditSeptember 1, 2007Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline: Is it a peace pipeline?Abbas Maleki, International Institute for Caspian Studies (Tehran)A major natural gas pipeline that would stretch from the fields of southern Iran to Pakistan and India—itself a remarkable prospect—is being planned. But it faces serious hurdles, not least the fierce opposition of the U.S. government. |
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AuditSeptember 1, 2007Immigration reform: failure and prospectsTara Magner, National Immigrant Justice CenterThe debate over immigration reform in America has come full circle. It began in late 2005 with an “enforcement only” bill in the House of Representatives that relied on aggressive implementation of existing law and greatly restricting future immigration. The most extreme legislation proposed in this vein would have made felons of undocumented immigrants and prosecuted those who provide such immigrants with aid or comfort. |
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AuditSeptember 1, 2007'New fighting power!' for Japan?Richard Samuels, MITJapanese strategists struggled for decades to find a way to field a robust military despite legal, political, and normative constraints on the expansion of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). Their progress was steady and significant, but slow. Now, leveraging off (and playing up) a perceived shift in the nature of the threat Japan faces, they have found a less constrained and highly efficacious route to force transformation. |
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AuditSeptember 1, 2007Is the foreign policy process working?John Tirman, MITFor decades, political analysts have dissected the mechanisms in the U.S. government and other institutions to describe how foreign policy is made. The matter seems to rise with international crises, and those are upon us again: the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the confrontation with Iran, HIV/AIDS, and the pressures of climate change, among other issues, underscore the point. |
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Analysis + OpinionAugust 18, 2007The caste system- India's apartheid?Balakrishnan RajagopalThe HinduHaving taken a principled stand in foreign policy against racial discrimination and apartheid, India should not hide behind a false sense of Third World sovereignty in discussing the real problems of how to effectively end caste discrimination in a complex society. |
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Analysis + OpinionAugust 14, 2007A new Cold War with Iran?John TirmanBoston GlobeThe "war of ideas" is different as well. Soviet communism was a highly imperfect version of what Karl Marx intended, but Marxism generally appealed to hundreds of millions of the downtrodden worldwide, regardless of culture. Shia Islam, the ideology of Iran, appeals only to a small segment of the Muslim world, and not beyond; even in Iran, its militancy is not obviously popular. |
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Analysis + OpinionAugust 7, 2007The more muscular JapanRichard J. SamuelsBoston GlobeWhile many nations are breathing a collective sigh of relief after North Korea's official commitment to move forward on disabling its nuclear facilities, one country is still holding its breath: Japan. |
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AuditAugust 1, 2007Pax mercatoria: does economic interdependence bring peace?PR GoldstoneDo high levels of international trade lead to peace? Norman Angell authored the best-selling book on international politics in history, arguing that economic interdependence between Germany and England made any war between the two unthinkable—an illusion. |
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In the NewsJuly 26, 2007Rights and security: a broad viewJohn TirmanWashington, D.C. |
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Analysis + OpinionJuly 18, 2007More troops for what?Benjamin FriedmanForeign PolicyHoping to sound tough on terror, U.S politicians and pundits of all political stripes are calling for a massive expansion of the U.S. military. But adding more troops has nothing to do with fighting terrorism, and would merely serve the same failed strategy that gave us Iraq. |