Opinion and Analysis Archive

31.05.2006 From the uprising of the Taliban to the insurgency in Iraq, the West's strategy for tackling radical Islam is failing, argues Tom Porteous.

30.05.2006 Genetically engineered papaya has devastated the Hawaiian export market, according to a new report.

29.05.2006 The momentous changes in world politics provoked by the 9/11 attacks have still not been recognised in the United States itself, reports Fred Halliday in New York.

26.05.2006 Bursting with talent and eternally tipped as the coming force, African countries won't win this World Cup, or the next one, writes David Runciman. The reason? For all the money splashing around, nothing is changing at the grassroots.

25.05.2006 Montenegro's vote for independence closes a political chapter in former Yugoslavia, but Vesna Goldsworthy finds that the map of the heart is not so neatly redrawn.

24.05.2006 For many people, communication facilities are unreliable, slow and costly. A new analysis explores how wireless technology could transform this situation, helps journalists get to grips with the many uses of wireless technologies and asks why governments aren’t doing more to help.

23.05.2006 Africa is “ground zero” of the HIV/AIDS pandemic but international policies have failed to address the roots and impact of the crisis, says an Africa Action analysis.

22.05.2006 An alternative annual report looks at "Hurricane Halliburton: Conflict, Climate Change and Catastrophe".

19.05.2006 A new way of framing the climate-change issue that makes sense in people's daily lives is needed in order to translate passive awareness into active concern, says Simon Retallack.

18.05.2006 What makes the Internet revolutionary is that it is democratic, open to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. That could soon change, says Joel Bleifuss.

17.05.2006 Paul Wolfowitz, the former US deputy defence secretary and a main architect of the Iraq war, has run the World Bank for a year. His regime is highly secretive, but insiders have talked exclusively to Robert Calderisi.

16.05.2006 The Russians are counting on continued violence in Chechnya, and local resignation, says Anne Nivat.

15.05.2006 President Chávez - currently on a visit to Britain - and Venezuela deserve the support of all who believe in social justice and democracy, says Ken Livingstone.

15.05.2006 The building of a massive new United States embassy and military bases in and around Baghdad signals the US determination to remain in Iraq for the long term, says Paul Rogers.

12.05.2006 Capitol Hill slugs it out this week in the latest battle to preserve a democratic Internet.

11.05.2006 The Iranian regime is deeply unpopular among young and educated Iranians but a military attack would be the surest way to unite all Iranians behind the regime, argues Farhang Jahanpour.

11.05.2006 Pakistan's post-earthquake emergency response saved lives, but planning and organising assistance for recovery have been less effective - particularly in housing, say Michael McIntyre and Timothy G. Connolly.

11.05.2006 Suman Sahai argues that India's new agricultural biotechnology deal with the United States will take power away from farmers and endanger a rich genetic heritage.

10.05.2006 Is the US heading for war with Iran? Mary Walsh proposes a creative UN solution, while Trita Parsi diagnoses double-vision in US policy.

09.05.2006 Amid geopolitical manoeuvring in the Caucasus and Central Asia, the US and Russia seem to be girding for Cold War II. Unlike the epic conflict during the last half of the 20th century, however, says Justin Burke, Washington is poorly positioned to defeat Moscow in a superpower standoff.