Articles

While the threat of "resource wars" over possession of oil reserves is often exaggerated, between one-quarter and one-half of interstate wars since 1973 have been connected to one or more of eight distinct oil-related causal mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms can help policymakers design grand strategy and allocate military resources.

BEIRUT -- This week’s sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States sees the top American military and diplomatic officials in Iraq speaking to the US Congress about American strategy in Iraq. The juxtaposition is noteworthy: Six years ago, a small band of Al-Qaeda militants attacked the United States and killed some 3000 people. Today, an army of over 160,000 American troops wages a war in Iraq that has seen tens of thousands of people killed since 2003. Neither policy makes much sense to anyone in the world, other than to those fanatics on both sides who decided to pursue these actions.

The murderous civil war in Darfuris four years’ old.Washington has called it genocide. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan showed equal concern and passion about daily killing there. More than 200,000 Darfurians have already lost their lives. As many as 2 million people have lost their homes and been forced into refugee or transit camps. Millions have been raped. Yet, effectively, the world continues to do nothing.