Terrorists’ Right to Bear Arms
Two GOP senators say they wouldn’t support a bill to stop suspected terrorists from buying weapons.
No More Torture
Former MI6 officials condemn U.S. use of torture.
It’s not Government’s Size, It’s the Stupidity
There are few things more powerful than a bad idea that gets made into legislation.
Flying and Radiation Risks
Shouldn’t we determine whether full-body airport scanners could increase cancer risks before deploying them everywhere?
Spying on our Own Folks
You never know what kind of list you might have been put on.
Democracy Thwarts U.S. Base Plans
From Okinawa to Guam, citizens are making the best-laid Pentagon plans go awry.
Arming Yemen against al-Qaeda
The last thing America needs is to help another Middle Eastern government to become a more effective military dictatorship.
Fly the Unfriendly Skies, if You Dare
I blamed Joe Lieberman, but that’s just me.
Yemen: Latest U.S. Battleground
The United States could be creating a failed state where there wasn’t one before.
Their Martyrs and Our Heroes
Powerful, developed countries have suicide bombers too.
Annotate This: Obama’s Speech on National Security
With all his talk of war and terrorism, the president seems to be edging closer to the stances of the previous administration.
AfPak: Negotiate from Strength
The sine qua non of any Af-Pak policy has to be a permanent rollback of the Taliban’s armed capabilities.
Arts Forum: ‘Torture and Representation’
Artist Daniel Heyman, Professor Julie Mertus, and attorney Katherine Gallagher will explore the issues of artistic and legal representations of victims of torture in a panel discussion moderated by Sarah Anderson. This event is sponsored by Foreign Policy In Focus and Provisions Library and is connected to an exhibit called "Close Encounters: Facing the Future," also at the Katzen Center, which runs through October 26.
Daniel Heyman is a painter and printmaker from Philadelphia who has been capturing the images and words of Iraqi victims of torture from U.S. facilities like Abu Ghraib. In these works, now on display in “Close Encounters,” Heyman’s spare and expressive portraits are haloed by words from the victims’ own harrowing narratives. More of his work may be viewed at his website [http://www.danielheyman.com/].
Julie Mertus is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the MA program in Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs at American University. Her work focuses on human rights, U.S. foreign policy, refugee and humanitarian law and policy, gender and conflict, and post-war transitions, with a specialty on the former Yugoslavia. Professor Mertus has nearly twenty years experience in the human rights field, as a field researcher, lawyer, advocate, political analyst and trainer.
Katherine Gallagher is a Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), where she focuses on holding individuals, including US and foreign government officials, and corporations, including private military contractors, accountable for serious human rights violations. Prior to joining CCR, she worked at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 2001-2006.
Moderator and IPS Global Economy Project Director Sarah Anderson has written numerous studies, articles and books on global corporations and the social and environmental impacts of trade and investment liberalization.
This event is free and open to the public.
The Katzen Arts Center is located on Ward Circle at the intersection of Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues in NW Washington, D.C. For museum hours and driving directions, please visit their website.
The "Close Encounters" exhibit is part of BrushFire, a national arts initiative organized by Provisions Library and focusing on social activist art in the run-up to the November elections.
The Real Crisis in Pakistan
Hint: Its not religious extremists.
Pakistans American Problem
The unpopularity of the United States in Pakistan should force Washington to rethink its policies, argues columnist Zia Mian.