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January 25, 2006
Saudi Arabia Forever?
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Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted the world oil market a few months ago, the industry has continued to experience hiccups. Fears over security at oil facilities in Nigeria linger; President Hugo Chávez is still threatening to halt the flow of Venezuelan oil to the United States; and recently both Ukraine and Georgia have experienced disruptions of gas supplies from Russia. To restore some degree of calm, Saudi Arabia has just promised to offset any shortages by boosting its own production. The move revives the question of how central the kingdom still is to the world energy market—an issue that the oil experts Edward Morse and James Richard hotly debated with Shibley Telhami and others in Foreign Affairs in 2002.
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In the Current Issue of Foreign Affairs
The complete text of selected essays and of all the book reviews from the January/February issue can be found on the Foreign Affairs Web site. Currently the following essays are available in their full text:
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Women, Islam, and the New Iraq
Isobel Coleman
Although questions of implementation remain, the new Iraqi constitution makes Islam the law of the land. This need not mean trouble for Iraq's women, however. Sharia is open to a wide range of interpretations, some quite egalitarian. If Washington still hopes for a liberal order in Iraq, it should start working with progressive Muslim scholars to advance women's rights through religious channels.
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A Natural History of Peace
Robert M. Sapolsky
Humans like to think that they are unique, but the study of other primates has called into question the exceptionalism of our species. So what does primatology have to say about war and peace? Contrary to what was believed just a few decades ago, humans are not "killer apes" destined for violent conflict, but can make their own history.
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Furthering Democracy in Mexico
Enrique Krauze
As it approaches its first presidential election in the post-PRI era, Mexico is at a crossroads: it could either consolidate democracy and proceed with needed reforms or fall back into a familiar state of crisis. Which way it goes will depend above all on the candidates of the three major political parties, who must rise above their short-term interests to further the nation's progress toward democratic stability.
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Previously in Background on the News
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Headless in Gaza
January 11, 2006
With Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for January 25, the Gaza Strip slipping into chaos, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fighting for his life, the Palestinians' future is once again up for grabs. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has tried to keep all internal and external factions happy simultaneously, but his balancing act has satisfied none of them and his mainstream Fatah movement might well lose electoral ground to Hamas as a result. . . . Read more
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No Joke
December 28, 2005
Earlier this month, the government of Kazakhstan removed a British comedian's Web site hosted on the country's .kz domain claiming that the comic's material was derogatory to the Kazakh people. The move gave credence to the U.S. government's reluctance to give up control of the Internet's domain name system to the United Nations . . . Read more
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Survivor
November 23, 2005
With the historic withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza under his belt, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made another bold move this week: he announced that he will quit the conservative Likud party he helped found to start a new, centrist party and called for the dissolution of Knesset to precipitate general elections ahead of schedule. . . . Read more
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