Opinion and Analysis Archive

30.08.2005 The Commonwealth of Independent States appears to be near the end of its existence. Even if the organisation survives, it will do so in a significantly different form, reports Sergei Blagov.

26.08.2005 US advertisements offering bounty payments for the capture of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar come up against Afghan conspiracy theories, reports Wahidullah Amani.

24.08.2005 The world’s most populous nation now has motorists — but there’s no petrol at the pumps. Nury Vittachi, China-based journalist and author, sends the first in a new series of dispatches, exclusive to OneWorld UK.

23.08.2005 The false claims by Western leaders at the recent G8 meeting will probably condemn the forthcoming UN "millennium summit" to be an expensive failure, argues Mark Curtis.

22.08.2005 Some questions are based on assumptions that should be rejected—and “What is it going to take to win in Iraq?” is one of them. The US occupation force can’t “win.” More importantly, it has no legitimate right to try, says Norman Solomon.

19.08.2005 Has the US public lost so much confidence in the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war that its current strategy - to the extent one actually exists - is unsustainable, asks Jim Lobe.

18.08.2005 Many Palestinians are expressing delight over the pull-out of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip. But, says Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the celebrations maybe premature.

16.08.2005 The northern Italian city of Bologna, hit by terrorists in August 1980, memorialised as well as mourned. London could take heart from its response, says Geoff Andrews.

15.08.2005 Companies that take the plunge into China's cyber-media market expect big dividends in return, but the price paid by ordinary Chinese is just as high. Wendy Ginsberg looks at the virtual and real-world environments that drive Western business to apply the kind of censorship that would never pass at home.

13.08.2005 As Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the loudmouth 'Tottenham Ayatollah', slips back to Lebanon to avoid treason charges, you get the feeling that Britain's war on terror has entered its own silly season, says Josie Appleton.

12.08.2005 "Are you, or have you ever been a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir?" Since London’s 7/7, the equivalent of a McCarthy-era “House Committee on Un-Islamic Activities” will have met in thousands of Muslim households across Britain as parents of young people confront those of their offspring who spend long hours evangelising for the militant Islamist party Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

11.08.2005 The environmental movement was good at pollution. To tackle climate change, it must adapt, argues Bill McKibben.

10.08.2005 Paul Hetherington travelled to Niger with a selection of journalists to report on the food crisis for Save the Children. This is his blog from the 10-day trip....

09.08.2005 The developed world has no right to dictate unilaterally to developing nations how they choose to use nuclear technology. But the latter must build their own capacity to handle the technology responsibly, both individually and collectively, says David Dickson.

05.08.2005 The recent death of John Garang is a shocking setback to Sudan's peace process, but not a fatal one. The Bush administration deserves much of the credit for the peace deal signed in January, and if it keeps its nerve, can help preserve the peace with Garang’s successor, says Alex De Waal.

04.08.2005 "If the test of good humanitarian aid is that it should be timely, proportionate, appropriate and effective, the response to the crisis in Niger has failed on all counts." The humanitarian crisis in West Africa comes under the spotlight.

03.08.2005 Iran’s threat to resume limited nuclear activities after the EU missed Sunday’s deadline to offer new incentives is part of a calculated attempt to mount pressure on Britain, France and Germany, writes IPS news analyst Praful Bidwai.

02.08.2005 The "long war" is over but the tasks ahead are unenviable - Paul Arthur analyses the IRA’s historic decision to end armed resistance in Northern Ireland.