ICAR In The News
Ethiopia's Convergence of Crises
By Terrence Lyons, ICAR Professor
(Current History, April 2008)
Ethiopia in 2008 faces challenges on multiple fronts. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has been in power since 1991, in the past has demonstrated both resilience and the capacity to outmaneuver his rivals. This year, however, he faces a convergence of internal and regional crises that could unbalance Ethiopia and exacerbate conflicts across the region. Each of these challenges feeds and is in turn fed by the others. An explosive escalation is possible. READ MORE
Approaching Tibet
By Ross Gearllach, ICAR M.S. Student
(Foreign Policy in Focus, April 9, 2008)
In western China, the low-grade civil war that has brewed for decades in Tibet has recently expanded. The upcoming 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising of 1959, combined with China’s Olympic games this summer, have created an environment that Tibetan separatists believe to be especially conducive to achieving their goals. The emotional power of the date and the chance to act while China is incapable of closing itself off due to the presence of foreign journalists have emboldened activists both within and outside Tibet. As a result, the protests now threaten to erupt into a full-scale rebellion that could create widespread violence across the four provinces with large populations of ethnic Tibetans. READ MORE
Views on Whether US and Israel Should Talk to Hamas
By Marc Gopin, ICAR Professor
(Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 2008)
In response to the March 25 article, "Should the world talk to Hamas?": Stimulating wars is the outgoing American administration's lasting legacy. To its dying day, the administration has sent a clear message that not only is Israel not to negotiate with Hamas, but neither can Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. When PA representatives reached agreement with Hamas in Yemen to return Gaza to the status quo ante, it was quickly retracted under pressure from donor countries. READ MORE
Views on Whether US and Israel Should Talk to Hamas
By Scott Cooper, ICAR M.S. Student
(Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 2008)
Regarding the recent article on opening discussions with Hamas: If the Israeli public wants talks with Hamas, then shouldn't it follow that the rest of the world should talk to Hamas? According to a poll published in the Israeli newspaper Haaratz, "Sixty-four percent of Israelis say the government must hold direct talks with the Hamas government in Gaza toward a cease-fire.... Less than one-third (28 percent) still opposes such talks."I vote on the side of the Israeli people. READ MORE
Miami Herald Features ICAR Professor Susan Hirsch
By Carol Rosenberg
(Miami Herald, April 2, 2008)
An American college professor whose Kenyan husband was killed in the 1998 al Qaeda suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania said Tuesday that a Guantánamo detainee accused in the attack should be tried in a civilian federal court, not by a military commission. ''These commissions have been fraught with challenges -- from coerced evidence to secret evidence,'' said Susan Hirsch, a professor at George Mason University outside Washington, D.C. She called the Guantánamo war court, established after the 9/11 attacks, ''an unprecedented newly created procedure'' that has been ``roundly condemned worldwide.'' READ MORE
Democracy Now Features ICAR Professor Susan Hirsch
By Amy Goodman
(Democracy Now, April 2, 2008)
Susan Hirsch, professor at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, calls for a fair trial for Ahmad Ghailani, an alleged participant in the 1998 Tanzania embassy bombing where Hirsch lost her husband. Ghailani has been held in secret CIA custody and is now a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay where he will be tried by a military commission. Hirsch is the author of "In the Moment of Greatest Calamity: Terrorism, Grief and a Victim's Quest for Justice," a personal account of her experiences during the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Tanzania, the loss of her husband as a victim of the attack and the subsequent trial of four defendants. WATCH BROADCAST
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Features ICAR Professor Susan Hirsch
Editorial Team
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 2, 2008)
In a bizarre turn of events, the Pentagon has decided to seek a war crimes tribunal to deal with a Tanzanian man involved in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa -- three years before our "war on terror" started. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2004 and was detained in parts unknown overseas for about two years before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay, was indicted in the embassy bombings by a federal grand jury in New York City. Others involved in the bombings received life sentences without parole in October 2001. If a military tribunal convicts Ghailani, he could face the death penalty. READ MORE
Los Angeles Times Features ICAR Professor Susan Hirsch
By Josh Meyer
(Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2008)
The Pentagon charged a Guantanamo detainee with capital murder and terrorism Monday for his alleged role in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania and his suspected ties to Al Qaeda. The Defense Department's chief military commissions prosecutor filed nine charges against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, and is seeking the death penalty if the Tanzanian is convicted of playing a central role in planning and preparing the truck bombing that killed 11 people and injured dozens. READ MORE
Washington Post Features ICAR Professor Susan Hirsch
By Josh White and Joby Warrick
(Washington Post, April 1, 2008)
Pentagon prosecutors have charged an alleged al-Qaeda operative with capital murder in helping to plan the 1998 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania, the first time prosecutors have sought the death penalty at a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for anyone other than an alleged conspirator in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. READ MORE
Jewish Arabs and a New Middle East
By Marc Gopin, ICAR Professor
(Middle East Online, March 29, 2008)
In 1998, Prince Hassan of Jordan appeared on video at the University of Notre Dame, marking one of the first academic conferences in the field of religion and conflict resolution. As he spoke via teleconference, he quoted at length and with great love from the writings of Moses Maimonides—the world-famous medieval Jewish philosopher who had been a chief conduit between Arab neo-Aristotelian philosophy and the Christian world. READ MORE
Holocaust Memories
By Carlos Sluzki, ICAR Professor
(Washington Post, March 29, 2008)
While the record of the transport of that Austrian Jewish couple on their way to their killing is correct, their names had already been tainted by the Nazi extermination machine. After the Nazi takeover of Austria, all Jewish citizens had second names added to their passports: Israel for men and Sara for women. This was done so that Jews could be easily recognized to block their emigration as well as to easily select them for extermination, as happened to that unfortunate couple…and to millions more. READ MORE
U.N. Security Council Must Act Preemptively - on Climate Change
By Michael Shank, ICAR Ph.D. Student, and US Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
(Christian Science Monitor, March 24, 2008)
The United Nations tackled the task of troubleshooting climate change last month. Between holding special General Assembly meetings at headquarters in New York, bringing 100 environmental ministers to Monaco in the largest meeting of ministers since Bali, and launching a Climate Neutral Network to highlight best practices in tackling global warming, the UN appears to be doing what it can to ensure that climate change does not fall off the political radar. Yet, it still isn't enough. A concerted international strategy, on a par with the seriousness and scope of an UN Security Council resolution, is what's needed to counter this climate crisis. READ MORE
Calling for Clarity in Iraq
By Matt Shugert, ICAR M.S. Student
(Washington Post, March 24, 2008)
The March 20 editorial "Fantasies on Iraq" bemoaned the lack of clarity and the unspecific nature with which Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton describe their "Iraq strategy." Realistic approaches are needed. Enhancing the strategies put forth by the candidates is necessary if voters are to understand what the next commander in chief will do to increase the chances of success in Iraq. READ MORE
CTV News Interviews ICAR Professor Marc Gopin
By Jacqueline Milczarek
(CTV News, March 23, 2008)
Marc Gopin, Professor at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and Director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution discusses the visit of Vice President Cheney to the Middle East where he called for concessions from both sides. Dr. Gopin discusses these concessions, prospects for a breakthrough during this US administration and the next, and proposes religious and culturally based negotiations as an alternative to traditional diplomacy which has excluded many people. Interview conducted on CTV, March 23rd, 2008. Video courtesy of CTV.ca. WATCH BROADCAST
Lincoln Journal Star Features ICAR Professor Solon Simmons
By Sam Erb and Samantha Heng
(Lincoln Journal Star, March 23, 2008)
Josh Withrow will always remember the Nov. 2, 2004, election. The next day, Robert Aguirre burst into a University of Nebraska-Lincoln classroom, looked at the students and offered this pronouncement: Republicans are going to destroy the country, and they should all be quarantined and removed from society. Aguirre was the teacher. READ MORE
