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January/February 2004
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The Law of War in the War on Terror by Kenneth Roth
The Bush administration has literalized its "war" on terrorism, dissolving the legal boundaries between what a government can do in peacetime and what's allowed in war. This move may have made it easier for Washington to detain or kill suspects, but it has also threatened basic due process rights, thereby endangering us all.
The Politics of AIDS: Engaging Conservative Activists by Holly Burkhalter
American evangelicals have put the fight against AIDS on Washington's map, even while clashing with other activists over strategy. Now all must unite behind a comprehensive approach stressing effective practices in prevention and treatment.
[500-word preview]
Beyond the Abu Sayyaf by Steven Rogers
Washington has made the fight against radical Muslim separatists in the Philippines a critical front in its war on terrorism. But its one-size-fits-all approach reflects a dangerous misunderstanding of the problem -- and could make things worse.
[500-word preview]
Essays
A Strategy of Partnership by Colin L. Powell
Pundits claim that U.S. foreign policy is too focused on unilateral preemption. But George W. Bush's vision -- enshrined in his 2002 National Security Strategy -- is far broader and deeper than that. The president has promoted bold and effective policies to combat terrorism, intervened decisively to prevent regional conflicts, and embraced other major powers such as Russia, China, and India. Above all, he has committed the United States to a strategy of partnerships, which affirms the vital role of international alliances while advancing American interests and principles.
The Saudi Paradox by Michael Scott Doran
Saudi Arabia is in the throes of a crisis, but its elite is bitterly divided on how to escape it. Crown Prince Abdullah leads a camp of liberal reformers seeking rapprochement with the West, while Prince Nayef, the interior minister, sides with an anti-American Wahhabi religious establishment that has much in common with al Qaeda. Abdullah cuts a higher profile abroad -- but at home Nayef casts a longer and darker shadow.
Don't Cry for Cancún by Jagdish Bhagwati
Despite the dramatic collapse of the recent trade talks in Cancún, things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. Cancún was no Seattle, as will soon become clear when progress resumes on Doha Round negotiations. Fault for the conference's breakdown lies with all the major parties, but the damage can quickly be remedied.
[500-word preview]
How to Stop Nuclear Terror by Graham Allison
President Bush has called nuclear terror the defining threat the United States now faces. He's right, but he has yet to follow up his words with actions. This is especially frustrating since nuclear terror is preventable. Washington needs a strategy based on the "Three No's": no loose nukes, no nascent nukes, and no new nuclear states.
[500-word preview]
The Terrorist Threat in Africa by Princeton N. Lyman and J. Stephen Morrison
The Bush administration has focused on destroying al Qaeda in East Africa, but it has been slow to address less-visible terrorist threats elsewhere on the continent, such as Islamist extremism in Nigeria and criminal syndicates in West Africa's failed states. This indifference could be costly -- for Africans and Americans both.
[500-word preview]
Kenya After Moi by Joel D. Barkan
Kenya's fragile government is threatened by factionalism, economic challenges, and rising crime. To ensure Nairobi's involvement in the war on terrorism, Washington must be sensitive to its domestic needs, recognizing that fledgling democracies can be more difficult to engage than their authoritarian predecessors.
[500-word preview]
Mexico at an Impasse by M. Delal Baer
Three years into Mexico's democratic revolution, few of its hopes have been realized: the political system is gridlocked, the economy is stagnant, and relations with the United States are deteriorating. A crisis is not imminent, but progress must come soon if Mexico's grand experiment with political and economic liberty is to continue.
[500-word preview]
The Reluctant Partner by Peter Hakim
Growing differences over trade and foreign policy threaten to upset the delicate balance in U.S.-Brazil relations. To head off trouble, Washington should lower its expectations, remembering that it has a greater stake in Lula's domestic success than in Brazil's active cooperation on any particular issue.
[500-word preview]
North America's Second Decade by Robert A. Pastor
In just ten years, NAFTA has created the world's most formidable free trade area. But in the absence of true partnerships and multilateral institutions, movement toward further regional integration has slowed. The United States, Mexico, and Canada have many common interests; they need to pursue them in common ways.
A Duty to Prevent by Lee Feinstein and Anne-Marie Slaughter
The unprecedented threat posed by terrorists and rogue states armed with weapons of mass destruction cannot be handled by an outdated and poorly enforced nonproliferation regime. The international community has a duty to prevent security disasters as well as humanitarian ones -- even at the price of violating sovereignty.
Reviews & Responses
A False Alarm: Overcoming Globalization's Discontents by Richard N. Cooper
A new book by an eminent economist takes on globalization's critics, disarming them with logic and killing them with compassion.
The Secret Agents: Life Inside an al Qaeda Cell by Camille Pecastaing
An Algerian journalist who infiltrated a terrorist cell in France reveals how a clash of cultures has turned Muslim immigrants into radical Islamist militants.
Fleeing the Chilean Coup: The Debate Over U.S. Complicity by William D. Rogers and Kenneth Maxwell
Former Assistant Secretary of State William D. Rogers disputes charges of U.S. complicity in the rise and rule of Pinochet; Kenneth Maxwell replies.
Triborder Dispute by Rubens Barbosa and Jessica Stern
Dogma Days by Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
Words Will Never Hurt by Doug Henry
Rejecting Revanchism by Larry Birns and Jessica Leight
Devil You Know by Andrew Collier
Dashing Brits by Gordon Peterson
After Saddam: Assessing the Reconstruction of Iraq by Kenneth M. Pollack
In his March/April 2002 Foreign Affairs article Next Stop Baghdad? (see Of Related Interest below), Kenneth Pollack laid out the case for why an invasion of Iraq was both necessary and possible. Nine months after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, he provides this update on the situation there. Based on extensive interviews with Iraqis, American officials, and American and British military personnel, it offers a remarkably comprehensive and authoritative look at the status of the U.S.-led reconstruction effort.