Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Civil society is not the only group of actors which recognizes the potential political power of the Internet. Authoritarian governments are wary of the political communication the Internet makes possible. Many have pushed measures to control the technology and shape the Internet's development to their needs.
On Friday, November 3, the U.S. and North Korea concluded three days of talks in Kuala Lumpur focused on Pyongyang's missile programs without signing any agreements. U.S. lead negotiator Robert Einhorn characterized the discussions as "detailed, constructive and very substantive," but also emphasized that "significant issues remain to be explored."
A recently announced U.S. arms deal with Taiwan immediately prompted an angry response from Beijing, which warned that there would be "serious consequences" if the deal is approved.
Much attention has been given to Japan's need to restructure its economy and its bureaucracy, but little critical analysis has addressed the necessary role of immigration policy in Japan's reform process. A series of economic, demographic, and political factors are converging to require that Japan adopt a more open policy toward immigration if it is to ensure its place as a global leader.
Time and again, US officials have stated that they do not want America to become the policeman of the world. Yet the one institution that can help the United States from being placed in that role-the United Nations-has been treated shabbily by the United States. The United States must re-affirm the UN’s mission with concrete action, beginning with the payment of long-overdue UN dues.
Ultimately, China's attempts to manipulate the private sector will be only one of a number of factors determining the success and transformative power of the Internet in the Middle Kingdom. Domestic and foreign entrepreneurship might very well eventually play their hand in helping to open up the country's economic and political system.
President Clinton is correct that the decision to grant China permanent most-favored-nation trading status will have a historic significance equal to Richard Nixon's opening to China and Jimmy Carter's normalization of relations. But if that's true, why is the president rushing Congress to make a hasty decision, with almost no time to consider the merits and consequences of this momentous step?
The present danger is that the United States will shrink from its responsibilities as the world's dominant power and--in a fit of absentmindedness, or parsimony or indifference--will allow the international order that it sustains to collapse. The present danger is one of declining strength, flagging will and confusion about our role in the world.
China's White Paper on Taiwan and Jiang Zemin’s desire to make reunification his legacy indicate that Taiwan will be attacked soon. A massive, coordinated air strike using short-range ballistic missiles could cripple Taiwan's air defenses and early warning systems, neutralizing its air force as well as naval ports. The U.S. military has no capabilities for defending Taiwan in such a scenario.
These are not happy days for global arms-control advocates. As far back as the early 1960s, policymakers warned that the true threat to the United States was not only that third-world despots might acquire the bomb but that advanced industrial countries might do so.