The World Today Al Qaeda in Iraq: Redefining Terror Having recently looked into the eyes of a prospective suicide bomber, while filming a BBC documentary on Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, I must admit to scepticism when reading predictions following his death of the imminent defeat of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
The World Today Lessons of History and the 'War' on Terrorism: Flying Blind In 1910 a novel published in London, The Emperor of the Air, described the destruction of Wall Street by an airship, the Zara, with a powerful engine.
The World Today Anti-terror Campaigns: A war that cannot be won The recent death of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and a brutal Jordanian terrorist who specialised in beheading kidnap victims, was hailed as a victory by America.
The World Today Prospects for Security and Stability: Afghanistan Again The riots in Kabul in May prompted a wave of pessimism about the outcome of the international intervention in Afghanistan, with predictions of an ‘arc of instability’ covering yet more of South Asia and the Middle East.
The World Today Somalia: Courts in Charge Somalia has been without a government for fifteen years, and now Islamist forces have expelled the warlords from Mogadishu, the capital. Can the new authorities reach out to other groups and form the hub of a more legitimate, political dispensation? Or does this mark the deepening of divisions, ushering in renewed conflict that could become dangerously internationalised?
The World Today US Mid-Term Elections: Bush Alone An unpopular war and economic worries might be expected to send voters flocking to the opposition. But November’s mid-term elections in America are still open. President George Bush’s Republicans may snatch victory from defeat, while Democrats have yet to make the case that they could do better.
The World Today Iran and the United States: With enemies like these Iran’s hard-line government has a lot to thank America for
The World Today Japan: All change In September Junichiro Koizumi will stand down as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and so end his reign as Prime Minister of Japan. People are beginning to ask if the new leadership could see a return to old-style Japanese politics, or whether the Koizumi revolution will have a longer lasting impact. Have things really changed during the Koizumi era and what are likely to be the key issues for his successor?
The World Today UN and Iraq: Iraq Awaits For more than a quarter of a century, the UN has been preoccupied by Iraq, for good and ill. Today, the big question at UN headquarters in New York revolves around the selection of Kofi Annan’s successor as Secretary-General. Consensus will emerge some time later in the year, with the successful individual chosen from a wide field of declared and undeclared candidates. Iraq is bound to be an issue from day one, just as it has been for the last four people in the job.
The World Today The Future of the OECD: Age Concern Life apparently begins at 40. But, as American journalist Helen Rowland wryly observed, ‘so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times’. Such sentiments might resonate in the Parisian corridors of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which celebrates its 45th anniversary at the end of September.
The World Today Young people in Iran: Children of the Revolution The majority of people in Iran have been born since the revolution brought a clerical government to power. So how does the younger generation view their country’s stand-off with the international community?
The World Today Islamism in Central Asia: Islam threatens Corrupt Secularism The calm of Central Asia – a landlocked region on the borders of Afghanistan and China – is periodically disrupted by sudden outbursts of violence. This is especially true in the Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan meet. Most such attacks are attributed to the rise of Islamism.
