Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Amidst the debris left by the final days of the 105th Congress may be our best chance to stabilize a dangerous situation on the Korean Peninsula. Congress is balking at providing $35 million for the shipment of fuel oil to North Korea in exchange for the shipment of plutonium out of that country.
For some two years there have been public concerns about Russian firms – and perhaps elements of the Russian government – assisting Iran to develop ballistic missiles. Last month Iran conducted the first flight-test of its Shahab-3 missile. Some analysts suspect that Iran is a few years away from fielding the Shahab-4 missile, which could reach most of Egypt and some of Central Europe.
Transparency provides the basis for a highly democratic, albeit nonelectoral, system of transnational governance based on the growing strength of global civil society.