Articles in English

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

By Polly Toynbee (THE GUARDIAN, 19/05/06):

To launch a political hot potato like a new nuclear energy policy at a CBI dinner was no way for Tony Blair to start this debate. Gifting business this apparent sweetener looked like the final scenes of Animal Farm: the other Labour animals were obliged to press their noses against the CBI window hoping to overhear this vital conversation as their leader caroused with the farmers. It was yet another example of his defiant take-it-or-leave-it, jumping-the-gun policy making. It is not a way to persuade doubters.

Nuclear power may or may not be necessary, but it has always been clear that Tony Blair intended to put himself on the nuclear side.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

By Joan Ruddock, labour MP for Lewisham Deptford (THE TIMES, 19/05/06):

THE PRIME MINISTER wants to persuade us that Britain has no alternative but to build a new generation of nuclear power stations. He is wrong.

The focus on nuclear distorts the energy debate. Securing energy supplies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are rightly at the top of the political agenda, but they have to be considered in relation to the whole energy mix and not just to the 8 per cent provided by nuclear power. The Prime Minister says the facts are stark, and contrasts past self-sufficiency in gas with future dependence on imports.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

By Tom Burke, a visiting professor at Imperial College London and University College London, and a co-founder of E3G, Third Generation Environmentalism (THE GUARDIAN, 18/05/06):

The prime minister has a taste for pre-emptive strikes and dodgy dossiers. He pre-empted his own white paper on energy policy with the energy review. He has now pre-empted the review by declaring that Britain needs new nuclear power stations. In so doing he has confirmed the suspicion that the review will be economical with the facts.

This precipitate action has accomplished the intended headlines. Whether it has made new nuclear power stations likely is more questionable.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

By Maia Szalavitz, the author of Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (THE WASHINGTON POST, 29/01/06):

It is the ultimate parental nightmare: Your affectionate child is transformed, seemingly overnight, into an out-of-control, drug-addicted, hostile teenager. Many parents blame themselves. "Where did we go wrong?" they ask. The kids, meanwhile, hurtle through their own bewildering adolescent nightmare.

I know. My descent into drug addiction started in high school and now, as an adult, I have a much better understanding of my parents' anguish and of what I was going through. And, after devoting several years to researching treatment programs, I'm also aware of the traps that many parents fall into when they finally seek help for their kids.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNuevas Tecnologías

By Christopher Stern, a media policy analyst with Medley Global Advisors (THE WASHINGTON POST, 22/01/06):

Do you prefer to search for information online with Google or Yahoo? What about bargain shopping -- do you go to Amazon or eBay? Many of us make these kinds of decisions several times a day, based on who knows what -- maybe you don't like bidding, or maybe Google's clean white search page suits you better than Yahoo's colorful clutter.

But the nation's largest telephone companies have a new business plan, and if it comes to pass you may one day discover that Yahoo suddenly responds much faster to your inquiries, overriding your affinity for Google.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

By Harold Ford Jr., a Democratic representative from Tennessee (THE WASHINGTON POST, 21/01/06):

I returned recently from a six-day trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan inspired by the progress that has been made in the region. Afghans and Iraqis yearn for a new beginning predicated on freedom. In both places, the keys to a new future are identical: better security and improved services. Each country is at a different point in its development on both of these fronts, and each is at an important crossroads.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Afghanistan stands at a more difficult and precarious junction than does Iraq.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

By Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. He is now president of the Forum for International Policy (THE WASHINGTON POST, 16/01/06):

The December election in Iraq could prove to be a seminal event. The parliament elected last month will choose a president and prime minister, providing Iraq its first elected government under a constitution approved by referendum. This government may well seek, or at least welcome, changes in the foreign military presence. In addition, President Bush has made clear that it will need to take increasing responsibility for rebuilding the country politically and economically, while Iraqi armed forces take increasing responsibility for defeating the insurgency.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

By Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center, an academic research institute in Jerusalem, and the Israel correspondent for the New Republic (THE WASHINGTON POST, 15/01/06):

When Ariel Sharon was hospitalized nearly two weeks ago, I found myself bereft. Like so many others here, I grieved for the most hated man in Israel who in the past five years had become the most beloved.

I grieved, too, for a nation that had just lost the only man it trusted to keep it safe. How could the general who taught the Israeli army never to leave its wounded on the battlefield abandon us now, with missiles from Gaza falling on Israeli towns and Iran about to go nuclear?…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

By Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA case officer and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (THE WASHINGTON POST, 10/01/06):

Once again we are confronted with stories about how the Pentagon and its ubiquitous private contractors are undermining free inquiry in Iraq. "Muslim Scholars Were Paid to Aid U.S. Propaganda," reports the New York Times. Journalists, intellectuals or clerics taking money from Uncle Sam or, in this case, a Washington-based public relations company, is seen as morally troubling and counterproductive. Sensible Muslims obviously would not want to listen to the advice of an American-paid consultant; anti-insurgent Sunni clerics can now all be slurred as corrupt stooges.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,

By Paul E. Schroeder, managing director of a trade development firm in Cleveland (THE WASHINGTON POST, 03/01/06):

Early on Aug. 3, 2005, we heard that 14 Marines had been killed in Haditha, Iraq. Our son, Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II, was stationed there. At 10:45 a.m. two Marines showed up at our door. After collecting himself for what was clearly painful duty, the lieutenant colonel said, "Your son is a true American hero."

Since then, two reactions to Augie's death have compounded the sadness.

At times like this, people say, "He died a hero." I know this is meant with great sincerity.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

By Melanie W. Sisson, an intelligence analyst at FBI headquarters from December 2003 to May 2005 (THE WASHINGTON POST, 31/12/05):

Why is the FBI having so much trouble keeping its intelligence analysts -- the kind of people who are vitally important to its post-Sept. 11 mission?

The problem was laid out at a congressional hearing a few months ago by the Justice Department's inspector general, Glenn A. Fine. He noted that the FBI is suffering a high rate of attrition among its most recently hired and most highly educated analysts, and he concluded that the bureau needs to stop assigning them duties that have nothing much to do with analysis and to offer better retention incentives.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

By Dale Andrade, a historian and author of Ashes to Ashes: The Phoenix Program and the Vietnam War (THE WASHINGTON POST, 29/12/05):

It's not uncommon these days to hear talk of "lessons" learned in Vietnam and their application to current U.S. conflicts. Unfortunately, most observers have ignored the uniqueness of the Vietnam War, picking and choosing the lessons learned there with little regard for their application to the present.

This is particularly true with the current buzz over the "clear and hold" concept, which has gained popularity in some circles. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice invoked it during Senate testimony in October, and columnist David Ignatius reported in his Nov.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

By Andrew Mack, who directs the Human Security Center at the University of British Columbia. He was director of the Strategic Planning Unit in the executive office of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan between 1998 and 2001 (THE WASHINGTON POST, 28/12/05):

Seen through the eyes of the media, the world appears an evermore dangerous place. Iraq is sliding toward civil war, the slaughter in Darfur appears unending, violent insurgencies are brewing in Thailand and a dozen other countries, and terrorism strikes again in Bali. It is not surprising that most people believe global violence is increasing.

However, most people, including many leading policymakers and scholars, are wrong.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

By Penne Restad, the author of Christmas in America: A History. She teaches history at the University of Texas at Austin (THE WASHINGTON POST, 25/12/05):

At last, Christmas morning. May we now declare a truce in the Christmas culture war? All those poor salespeople who struggled to remember whether company policy was to greet shoppers with "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" are free to relax and settle down around their Christmas tree or holiday tree or whatever other seasonal symbol they prefer and celebrate in their own private way. For celebrate Christmas is something that almost all of us, apparently, do.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

By Nathaniel Myers, former adviser to a coalition of Cambodian nongovernmental organizations on issues concerning the Khmer Rouge tribunal (THE WASHINGTON POST, 24/12/05):

Speaking to a Senate subcommittee two years ago, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that, given the level of "lawlessness and impunity" in the country under discussion, it made "no sense" to even consider convening a human rights tribunal to conduct trials on the heinous crimes of the ousted regime. The country he was referring to was not Iraq -- though it certainly could have been -- but Cambodia, where the United Nations had just finished negotiations with the government to establish a joint tribunal to prosecute surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional

By Richard A. Posner, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and a senior lecturer in law at the University of Chicago (THE WASHINGTON POST, 21/12/05):

We've learned that the Defense Department is deeply involved in domestic intelligence (intelligence concerning threats to national security that unfold on U.S. soil). The department's National Security Agency has been conducting, outside the framework of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens within the United States. Other Pentagon agencies, notably the one known as Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), have, as described in Walter Pincus's recent articles in The Post, been conducting domestic intelligence on a large scale.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional

By William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and Gary Schmitt, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (THE WASHINGTON POST, 20/012/05):

A U.S. president has just received word that American counterterrorist operatives have captured a senior al Qaeda operative in Pakistan. Among his possessions are a couple of cell phones -- phones that contain several American phone numbers. In the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, what's a president to do?

If the president were taking the advice offered by some politicians and pundits in recent days, he would order the attorney general to go to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

By Henry A. Kissinger, a former secretary of state and chairman of Kissinger Associates (THE WASHINGTON POST, 18/05/05):

The administration and its critics seem to agree that the beginning of an American withdrawal from Iraq will mark a turning point. What divides them is the speed and extent of the drawdown and whether it should be driven by a timetable or by a strategy that seeks to shape events.

Though often put into technical terms, the issue is not the mechanics of withdrawal. Rather, the debate should be over consequences: whether, in the end, withdrawal will be perceived as a forced retreat or as an aspect of a prudent and carefully planned strategy designed to enhance international security.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

By Janine Davidson, an adjunct professor at George Mason's School of Public Policy and a former Air Force officer and Tammy S. Schultz, a PhD candidate in the Department of Government at Georgetown University (THE WASHINGTON POST, 17/12/05):

"Clear, Hold and Build" is the new official security approach for victory in Iraq. President Bush presented this strategy in a recent series of speeches, and the phrase is featured prominently in the White House's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." The wisdom of this policy suggests that the U.S. leadership may finally "get it."

History demonstrates that successful counterinsurgency requires an integrated civil-military effort focused on strengthening local institutions, not just chasing down bad guys.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesDemocracia

By Susan E. Rice, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was assistant secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 (THE WASHINGTON POST, 16/12/05):

As the joyous display of purple fingers in Iraq again attests, the national struggle for democracy is a moral good and, if it succeeds, a human triumph. But it is not by itself a victory for American national security. We need a policy based on the recognition that democracy in the Middle East and beyond is definitely desirable, maybe necessary but hardly sufficient to secure our future.

In an article on this page Dec. 11 ["The Promise of Democratic Peace"], Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued that the "goal of our statecraft is to help create a world of democratic, well-governed states that can meet the needs of their citizens and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system."…  Seguir leyendo »