January 18, 2003
In an incisive recent commentary, Gabriel Kolko warns that, “…there have always been limits to US power, and the question today is when and how the US will acknowledge this reality.” Pointing to the necessary unpredictability of intervention, and its unwanted political side effects, Kolko questions whether a war on Iraq is either feasible or [...]
January 6, 2003
All but forgotten, the South Balkan region lacks visibility and urgency. And so pipeline planners need to keep their chins up and persevere. Their best argument is the need to bypass the ecologically sensitive Bosphorus Straits. At present, all east-west oil transit is conducted by tankers. But new Turkish regulations are making it both more [...]
January 1, 2003
December’s scandal of the month in Macedonia was a curious, unresolved and somewhat suspicious affair: the alleged poisoning of over 200 Albanian high school students in Kumanovo. Complaining of various ills – including headaches, stomach pain, dizziness and even laughing – the victims demanded hospitalization and protested by skipping school. On 11 December, following several [...]
