Briefing Archive

PARIS — There has been much talk of late of impending “changes” in French foreign policy. New French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s programmatic speech last month on foreign policy matters — and especially his remarks on the “unacceptability” of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons — first spurred such discussions. Then came the publication last week of former French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine’s commissioned report to the French President on globalization and French foreign policy. Védrine, a Socialist, served as Foreign Minister from 1997-2002 in the government of Lionel Jospin, in which capacity he famously qualified American counter-terrorism efforts in the […]

DENPASAR Indonesia — After 20 years in exile, José María Síson was arrested in Utrecht, Holland, Aug. 28 and charged with ordering the murder of two dissidents of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Although he now calls himself a “consultant” to Asia’s oldest rebel movement, Síson is widely perceived to be the leader of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), both of which he founded nearly 40 years ago. His arrest has given rise to a whirlwind of opinions, with some experts stating that it could be a severe blow to the […]

JERUSALEM — In Israel, a country where everyone has an opinion and every home has at least one senior military expert, the events that (may or may not have) transpired in Syria last Thursday have fueled a frantic round of nervous speculation and analysis. Last week, Syrian authorities announced they had fired anti-aircraft weapons at Israeli planes illegally flying over their territory. At the time, Israeli officials refused to comment. Since then, the entire government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has maintained complete silence on the issue, displaying a level of discipline that has left Israelis utterly amazed. The government […]

The strict morality of life in Ramallah, where honor killings might be performed when pregnancies occur outside of marriage, means navigating the issue of sex is extremely fraught. Young people must balance the images they receive from the outside world and their continual anxiety about committing sin if they should follow their natural urges before marriage. RAMALLAH, West Bank — On first glance, the city of Ramallah in the West Bank appears boring: conservative and chaste. Most women wear headscarves and quickly avert their eyes when men are watching. There is nothing flirtatious about the gesture. In the course of […]

On Sept. 3, the Russian government indicated it would insist on challenging conditions for negotiating any limitations on its tactical nuclear weapons (TNW). Russian Col. Gen. Vladimir Verkhovtsev, head of the Defense Ministry’s 12th Main Directorate, which is responsible for Russia’s nuclear weapons, told reporters that Russia would require that other countries — “above all France and Britain” — join with Moscow and Washington in any future TNW arms control talks. For years, Western officials, legislators, and analysts have called for additional measures to eliminate, or at least sharply reduce, the remaining TNWs in the U.S. and Russian arsenals. TNWs […]

RABAT, Morocco — Elections in Morocco that were projected to hand large gains to a moderate Islamic party on Friday ended with a record low voter turnout and only incremental changes to the parliament’s makeup. The Justice and Development Party (PJD), Morocco’s largest opposition party, was expected to increase its representation from 42 seats to as much as 80 in the 325-seat parliament, but only managed to win 47 seats, despite competing in more districts than in the previous election. The record low voter turn out was widely interpreted as a sign that Moroccans are dissatisfied with the current government […]

KAMPALA, Uganda — Northern Uganda has been mired in violent conflict for over 20 years. And though it rarely receives as many headlines as nearby fighting in Darfur, Somalia, or even Eastern Congo, the war in Northern Uganda, one of Africa’s longest running conflicts and humanitarian disasters, is inching toward a possible resolution. In Juba, Southern Sudan, negotiators from the government of Uganda and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) recently signed the third phase of a five-part peace agreement. The progress is important, but the government of Uganda and its Western sponsors still have much to answer for. Even […]

Editor’s Note: Rights & Wrongs is a weekly column covering the world’s major human rights-related happenings. It is written by regular WPR contributor Juliette Terzieff. HOLLYWOOD CALLS FOR SUU KYI’S RELEASE: More than two dozen Hollywood stars, including Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Aniston and Jim Carrey, signed an open letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Sept. 6 urging the world’s top diplomat to personally intervene in the case of detained pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi. “This courageous, brave woman whom many call ‘Burma’s Nelson Mandela’ should be released and the military regime should end its attacks […]

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Lust for oil can overpower a country’s democratic ideals and common sense, and the United States is not immune. Consider Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s rhetorical embrace of Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, in April 2006. “You are a good friend and we welcome you,” she said. Two years earlier, the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations disclosed how Rice’s “good friend” and his family held multimillion dollar accounts, gleaned from government revenue, in Riggs Bank, which was eventually convicted of violating America’s Bank Secrecy Act. When not ripping off the state treasury, Obiang has […]

Cao Gangchuan recently completed the first visit by a Chinese defense minister to Japan since then-minister Chi Haotian made such a trip in February 1998. During Cao’s five-day sojourn, he met with senior Japanese political and military leaders, including the new Japanese Defense Minister, Masahiko Komura. Cao’s visit to Japan helped advance the modest détente that has characterized Sino-Japanese relations since Shinzo Abe became Japanese prime minister in September 2006. Abe has prioritized improving the ties between China and Japan, which had deteriorated sharply under his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. Cao invited Komura to make an official visit to China sometime […]

When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran described the Holocaust as a “myth” and hosted a Holocaust revisionist conference in Tehran in December 2006, he was warmly cheered in the Third World and severely castigated in the United States and Europe. Yet most Western pundits largely failed to grasp the significance of the assault. They limited themselves to outrage and righteous indignation. Ahmadinejad’s fulminations were, on the one hand, jeered as “paranoid” and, on the other, described as on par with his other threats to destroy Israel — pardon, “the Zionist entity.” In other words, Western commentators dismissed the Iranian President […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Uncertainty about Lebanon’s political stability in an atmosphere of increasing sectarian division and rumors that Hezbollah is beefing up for an offensive against Israel are testing the allegiances of women loyal to the paramilitary group. Given the influence of women in Hezbollah, their ambivalence has the potential to spread further and ultimately shake the foundation of its political support among Lebanon’s Shiites. While tens of thousands gathered last month to commemorate the anniversary of Hezbollah’s self-declared “divine victory” against Israel (which left more than 1,200 Lebanese and 150 Israelis dead), some Hezbollah supporters question whether the sectarian […]

WASHINGTON — In early August, Seattle-based Boeing, the nation’s second-largest weapons manufacturer, extended invitations to several East Coast-based online journalists to ride on a lavish Boeing corporate jet to Everett, Wash., to tour the company’s 767 airplane factory. Boeing’s aim: to win some good-will from a relatively neglected slice of the media as the company vies for one of the biggest and most important military contracts in decades. In coming months, perhaps as early as December, the U.S. Air Force will decide between Boeing and a partnership of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and the European firm EADS for a $40-billion […]

For decades during the Cold War, the United States sought nuclear primacy. Now it may be on the verge of achieving it. As America’s presidential candidates begin to articulate positions on nuclear policy, it is worth remembering that in all dealings with the nuclear genie, you should be careful what you wish for. . . . When a state can obliterate its adversary’s arsenal with a first strike, it is said to possess nuclear primacy. America had primacy early in the Cold War, but the Soviet Union’s acquisition of a secure second strike capability in the 1960s ushered in the […]

NEW YORK — A Chinese general was appointed to command a United Nations peacekeeping mission for the first time on Aug. 27. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Maj. Gen. Zhao Jingmin to lead the mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, where U.N. peacekeepers have monitored a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, an armed separatist group, since 1991. Zhao will replace Gen. Kurt Mosgaard of Denmark, who completed his tour of duty Sept. 3, according to U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas. Zhao has an impressive biography and his appointment is not expected to generate any controversy in the Security […]

BANGKOK, Thailand — While desperate people braved pro-government thugs on the streets of Rangoon to protest economically devastating fuel price rises, Burma’s chief energy planner was in Singapore spouting fantastic figures about his country’s oil and gas wealth. Burma has reserves of more than 600 million barrels of oil and almost 16 trillion cubic feet of gas, claimed U Soe Myint last week. Selling Abroad, Shortages at Home The figures, if they are to be believed, should be good news for a country of 53 million impoverished people who suffer intermittent electricity supplies, or none at all in many areas, […]

At the end of August, Iranian presidential spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr threatened to turn to “other candidates” to complete the country’s long-delayed nuclear power plant at Bushehr if “problems arise again” between Tehran and Moscow over the project. The previous month, European officials related that the Russian government had informed Iran in July that Moscow would refuse to supply nuclear fuel for the Russian-built nuclear reactor until Tehran provides more details about its past nuclear activities to the international community. These reports might indicate that the Russian government has finally decided to suspend cooperation with Iran’s nuclear program until Tehran […]