The World Today War and its Aftermath: Destructive Force The human cost of the war, especially for Iraqi forces killed and injured, has been largely out of sight. But with probably tens of thousands affected, the impact on families across the country will be considerable. Bitterness and anger may produce opposition and retaliation for years ahead.
The World Today Arab Views of America: Deepening Discontent American and British action in Iraq is likely to have radicalised Arab opinion. Moderates and religious leaders have joined more extreme groups in condemnation. Only rapid attention to the Palestinian tragedy, human rights and the rule of law can alter this dismal scenario.
The World Today Disarmament of Iraq: Dark Period Ending Although military force succeeded in ending the Saddam Hussein regime, and with it the dire threat it posed, many challenges lie ahead in completing another primary objective – the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. But why were such weapons not used and so difficult to find during the military campaign?
The World Today Repairing European and Transatlantic Institutions: Threat to Global Order The conventional wisdom at the end of the Cold War on both sides of the Atlantic was that interdependence had grown so close that Europe and the US had no alternative to partnership. Integration was thought to have taken west European states well past any breakdown in relations among member governments. War in Iraq is testing these assumptions.
The World Today Europe and America: Size Matters European often deplore the ‘democratic deficit’ in the European Union. This is only half the problem. The other half is the ‘efficiency deficit’. Both have been exposed by the Iraq crisis.
The World Today Economic Consequences of War: Downsides All Around There were diplomatic casualties in the UN, European Union and NATO before a shot was fired in Iraq. Will international economic and trade agreements, globalisation and economic growth become victims too.
The World Today Turkey, Europe and America: Not in Our backyard Turkey has not had a ‘good’ war. Its diplomatic march westwards has stalled, and conditions do not look good for reviving it. Events in the predominantly Kurdish areas of northern Iraq have not yet completed their cycle, the Cyprus issue has emerged as a major obstacle to European Union entry, and Washington’s strategic sponsorship of Turkey is under review.
The World Today Russia-US Relations: Crisis? What Crisis? President George Bush’s visit to Moscow and St Petersburg this month comes at an uncertain time in Russia-US relations. The Iraq crisis has interrupted the apparently smooth rapprochement between the former Cold War adversaries after September 11 2001, while talk of like-mindedness has given way to rhetoric that sometimes recalls past animosities. The summit also takes place when many fundamental issues and principles of international relations are in flux. It is no longer meaningful to speak about a unitary ‘west’, while the Bush doctrine of preemptive action raises the spectre of the US acting in an increasingly unilateral and dominant fashion.
The World Today Restructuring Security in Russia: Return of the KGB? With world attention on Iraq, just days before war, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced the most dramatic reorganisation of Russian security forces since the KGB was broken up into separate agencies by his predecessor Boris Yeltsin in the early 1990s. Putin explained his move as streamlining and updating responses to security threats. Critics questioned the legality of the changes and expressed fears that still more forces were coming under the wing of the KGB’s main successor.
