WASHINGTON — In coming weeks, one of the most significant events of the year will occur when it becomes clear who will replace Kofi Annan as U.N. secretary general. Unfortunately, when it happens, although it will no doubt make the front pages of the world’s newspapers, and although it will probably have been preceded by a few days of speculation stories, the public will have a far sketchier view of what is happening than it should. Press coverage of this important story has been meager. The question of who will run an organization whose functions range from offering neutral ground [...]
Despite virtual around-the-clock coverage of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, one important aspect remains poorly understood: the reaction of the 300 million strong “Arab Street.” Turn on any Arab television channel, though, and you can’t miss the rage and widespread support for Hezbollah and Hamas: streets roiling with protestors, callers to talk programs denouncing Israel and the United States, and clerics defending Hezbollah and calling for holy war. Five years after 9/11, the West still struggles to understand this rage that pushes Arab masses to view radical groups as heroic forces of resistance. On one extreme, there are those [...]
SARAJEVO — Campaign rhetoric and political infighting are heating up as Bosnia and Herzegovina heads toward general elections this fall, the sixth such vote since the war-torn nation bloodily seceded from the former Yugoslavia in 1992. With the May secession of tiny Montenegro from what’s left of Yugoslavia — now known simply as Serbia — the challenge of staying united has never been so great for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities, the Serb-leaning Republika Srpska (RS), and the predominantly Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBH). One need only listen to Milorad Dodik, the man leading in the polls and [...]
