To the Point
Which Way, Middle East?
The rapid fall of Saddam Hussein has reportedly shocked the monarchs and former generals who run the rest of the Arab countries. All of a sudden, they-re worried about demands for less corruption and greater accountability. But democracy and economic reform won-t come easy, if they come at all, in part because the war in Iraq also sparked the angriest kind of anti-Americanism. Will the US pullout from Saudi Arabia help ease tensions? What about the -road map- for peace between Israel and the Palestinians? We explore the potential for political and economic reform in the Arab world with the editor of an English-language newspaper distributed throughout the Arab world, former ambassadors from the US and Arab League, and the head of the Al Aram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Making News: UC Berkeley Bars Summer Students over SARS The University of California at Berkeley, one of America-s most prestigious, has decided to bar new students from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. The problem is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom or SARS. Peter Dietrich, medical director of UC Berkeley's University Health Services, explains the reasons for the interim exclusion and plans to re-open the university's doors in the fall. Reporter's Notebook: Inventory Taken on Missing Iraqi Artifacts During the battle of Baghdad, it was reported that with American troops standing by, 170,000 artifacts were destroyed or stolen from the Iraqi National Museum. That number has now been reduced to 38. Was the looting wildly exaggerated in early reports? Christine Spolar, who is in Baghdad covering that story for the Chicago Tribune, has more on the curious calculation and a new, and tragic, form of looting.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readThe rapid fall of Saddam Hussein has reportedly shocked the monarchs and former generals who run the rest of the Arab countries. All of a sudden, they-re worried about demands for less corruption and greater accountability. But democracy and economic reform won-t come easy, if they come at all, in part because the war in Iraq also sparked the angriest kind of anti-Americanism. Will the US pullout from Saudi Arabia help ease tensions? What about the -road map- for peace between Israel and the Palestinians? We explore the potential for political and economic reform in the Arab world with the editor of an English-language newspaper distributed throughout the Arab world, former ambassadors from the US and Arab League, and the head of the Al Aram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
UC Berkeley Bars Summer Students over SARS
The University of California at Berkeley, one of America-s most prestigious, has decided to bar new students from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. The problem is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom or SARS. Peter Dietrich, medical director of UC Berkeley's University Health Services, explains the reasons for the interim exclusion and plans to re-open the university's doors in the fall.
Inventory Taken on Missing Iraqi Artifacts
During the battle of Baghdad, it was reported that with American troops standing by, 170,000 artifacts were destroyed or stolen from the Iraqi National Museum. That number has now been reduced to 38. Was the looting wildly exaggerated in early reports? Christine Spolar, who is in Baghdad covering that story for the Chicago Tribune, has more on the curious calculation and a new, and tragic, form of looting.