BRUSSELS – What will it mean to be European 25 years from now? Unlike the United States, whose history as a “melting pot has given Americans a truly multi-ethnic character, native Europeans are becoming an endangered species. Europe badly needs immigrants, yet is not culturally prepared to welcome them. The coming decades will therefore see …
Egyptian efforts to secure a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza are continuing, but the different parties interests and their definition of what a ceasefire should constitute are throwing obstacles in the way. Egypt simply wants a ceasefire. However, one of the issues that has to be settled is that of movement through Rafah, …
With President Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen UN sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the US needs to talk with Iran’s rulers, the issue of Iran’s nuclear program is heating up. Iranians, no surprise, are watching this debate with interest. …
Two and a half years ago, senior staff members of the World Bank approached the Nobel laureate Michael Spence to ask him to lead a high-powered commission on economic growth. The question at hand could not have been more important. The “Washington consensus – the infamous list of do’s and don’ts for policymakers in developing …
On June 12, Irish voters will vote on the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, the instrument designed to improve the efficiency and legitimacy of the now 27-member bloc. Ireland is the only country to put the Treaty to a referendum – all the other member states have chosen to ratify the Treaty by parliamentary means – …
The West should have nothing on us because many of our afflictions seem to be popping up there too. I speak of the ‘suicide cult’. On June 5 www.wsws.org reported that police and social workers were baffled by the suicide of 19 teenagers who were reportedly happy, were doing well at school, had lots of …
From Adam Smith (1776) until 1950 or so, capital was considered by economists to be absolutely essential for economic growth. You also needed a few good basic institutions. “Security of property and tolerable administration of justice, as Smith put it. If these fundamental institutions were right, then landlords, merchants, and manufacturers would invest and improve. …
George W. Bush is approaching the end of his presidency mired in low popularity ratings, which partly reflects his policies in the Middle East. But Bush leaves behind a better legacy in Asia. American relations with Japan and China remain strong, and he has greatly enhanced the United States’ ties with India, the world’s second …
Turkey has long been a haven of geo-political stability. But, since 2003, Turkey’s virtually unquestioned alliance with the United States has undergone a profound re-evaluation, due to the Iraq War, and the Turkish consensus on its decades-long EU candidacy has begun to wobble, owing to EU dithering. Given Turkey’s central role not only in maintaining …
Egypt is boiling; this is the least one can say of the general conditions in Egypt. From Abu-Fana monastery, which witnessed violent clashes between Muslims and Copts less than two weeks ago, to Al-Borollos village in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, which witnessed the most violent demonstration over bread, Egypt seemed stuck between completely frozen political reform …
Around the world, protests against soaring food and fuel prices are mounting. The poor – and even the middle classes – are seeing their incomes squeezed as the global economy enters a slowdown. Politicians want to respond to their constituents’ legitimate concerns, but do not know what to do. In the United States, both Hillary …
The Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict highlights both the good intentions and the misplaced conceptions of its promulgators. Five years after its adoption, it lingers not as a tool for the achievement of a sustainable agreement but as a burdensome impediment to its realization. The roadmap was construed …
Americans speak of “Middle America and Britons of “Middle England. Both are near mythic places that supposedly embody the authentic character of the nation. Israel, too, has its “Middle Israel, but it is very different from the place that Americans and Britons describe. Rather than being somewhat provincial, Middle Israel is educated, bilingual or multilingual, …
Many people did not notice that for the first time two opposition campaigns against the government s policies and projects achieved varying levels of success at the same time. The campaign against the establishment of a large petrochemicals plant belonging to the Canadian Agrium Company in Damietta put the project at stake; and the campaign …
When you live ten minutes away – but worlds apart – from one another, you can still learn essential things about each other, even after five years of friendship and countless hours spent together. Abed and I spent over a week traveling together in the United States to promote our Israeli-Palestinian dialogue program to Americans. …
Why are French, British, and American warships, but not Chinese or Malaysian warships, sitting near the Burmese coast loaded with food and other necessities for the victims of Cyclone Nargis? Why has the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) been so slow and weak in its response to a natural calamity that ravaged one …
Saudi Arabia has once again sought to assert its place as the de facto leader of the Muslim world. King Abdullah gave a speech at a three-day conference in Mecca on the future of Islam and other religions, following on from the much publicized Saudi call for an interfaith dialogue. The King called for unity …
African American Muslim women are a rare gift in that we have a unique perspective on what it means to be Muslim in the United States. Our historical references as women are specifically honed and readily available to address issues of oppression and struggle for liberation as well as opportunity and success. We have experience …
When Nicolas Sarkozy’s government spokesperson announced that each minister’s performance would be assessed according to criteria set by a private auditing firm, he probably did not expect to elicit a fierce response. But he should have. The opposition quickly attacked the move as a “dangerous gimmick and a “smokescreen. One pundit asked, “Will the time …
George W. Bush is learning that being Israel s friend doesn t necessarily mean that Israel agrees with your policies. Just days after the US President likened people who advocate talking to “radicals and terrorists to appeasers of Nazi Germany, Israel publicly acknowledged it s been talking indirectly with Syria, a state Mr. Bush views …
Israel is the oasis of democracy in the region, yet Israeli daily Haaretz is relentless in its criticism of the government, the occupation and the discrimination against the Palestinian people. And so it was necessary for Israel to shut the paper up to make sure there would be no dissonant voices amid the Israeli press, …
The question of how much China’s currency should appreciate to rebalance its trade has become a global hot-button issue. But the answers have been all over the map, with some finding that the yuan is not undervalued at all, while others argue that it should appreciate against the dollar by more than 30 percent. Clearly, …
There is no military solution in Iraq, only a political one. General David Petraeus s aphorism is about the only thing on which war proponents and opponents agree. The question is why so few American policy makers hold the same view about Pakistan. As Pakistan s recently elected government negotiates a ceasefire with militants, Washington …
After years of turmoil, and on the heels of the highly successful Lebanese National Dialogue held in Doha in mid-May, Lebanon s leaders swore in a new president under the banner of a broad-based coalition government. The government will include both Hezbollah – which led Lebanon into war with Israel in 2006 – and its …
The vows of the new Pakistani coalition government to begin a dialogue with militants has turned many heads. To Washington s dismay, the new government led by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto s widower Asif Ali Zardari seems to have a different perspective on fighting terrorism. Here s why we should pay attention. Today we …
The recent agreement in Doha to end Lebanon s 18-month political stalemate begins the process of re-establishing a functioning government and addressing the legitimate concerns of the Lebanese people. It postpones the discussion about the future role of Hezbollah in Lebanese society until after the election of the president, which brings us to the genius …
In Kenya, there is an unceasing call for an amnesty for those who participated in the political violence that erupted in the wake of the last presidential elections. In this case, amnesty seems to be essential to shut down this unpalatable dossier. However, skeptics say that amnesty should follow the implementation of the law, not …
The resumption of peace talks between Israel and Syria after eight years of saber-rattling is not a diversion from the political troubles of Israel’s lame-duck prime minister. Nor are the talks a Syrian ploy to avoid facing an international tribunal on the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. An Israeli-Syrian peace deal is …
Lack of food is rarely the reason people go hungry. Even now, there is enough food in the world, with a bumper harvest this year, but more people cannot afford to buy the food they need. Addressing this growing crisis is the aim of the Global Conference on Food Security in Rome on June 3-5. …
My story with art started when I met Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. That was in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. I was at a school-turned-shelter, and there was a chalkboard. Chalk and dust from which Alef was born gave me a lasting link to the creative process. And the messy …
