Jeffrey Donovan

Also by Jeffrey Donovan

• December 01, 2005

  Controversy Heats Up Over Alleged CIA Prisons, Flights

  The EU is looking into launching a formal EU probe into allegations that the CIA transported terrorist suspects and held them in secret prisons across Eastern Europe.

• November 18, 2005

  U.S.: New Clues Fuel Iraq Intelligence Controversy

  U.S. President George W. Bush (file photo) (CTK) In his State of the Union speech in January 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush said the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was trying to obtain uranium in Africa to build a nuclear bomb. That assertion, long since debunked, lies at the heart of separate criminal and congressional probes looking into whether Washington exaggerated threats to build support for the Iraq war.

• November 17, 2005

  Iraq: New Clues In Italy Add Fuel To U.S. Intelligence Controversy

  Saddam Hussein in the mid-1990s (CTK) In his State of the Union speech in January 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush said the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was trying to obtain uranium in Africa to build a nuclear bomb. That assertion, seemingly debunked, lies at the heart of separate criminal and congressional probes looking into whether Washington exaggerated threats to build support for the Iraq war. New clues from Italy may shed light on the uranium story’s origins -- and further fuel controversies swirling in Washington.

• October 26, 2005

  Poland: New President Talks Tough On Russia, Belarus

  Polish President-elect Lech Kaczynski (AFP) Pro-American. Anti-Russian. Germany-skeptical. Lech Kaczynski, the conservative Warsaw mayor who stormed to victory in a presidential runoff in Poland on 23 October, seems to fit all three descriptions. Analysts say Poland could be poised to send a policy jolt through both the European Union and Russia by intensifying its support for democracy among its eastern neighbors and its criticism of the emerging energy partnership between Moscow and Berlin. But campaign promises are one thing, and government policies are another.

• October 25, 2005

  Will Latest Attacks Affect Foreign Media Coverage?

  A triple suicide bombing in central Baghdad on 23 October rocked a hotel complex used by foreign journalists. RFE/RL spoke with foreign journalists in Iraq to see how the violence affects coverage of Iraq.

• October 18, 2005

  World: Transparency International Chief Talks About Corruption In CIS

  Transparency International's David Nussbaum Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the Central Asian countries rank among the worst in a new survey of perceived global corruption by the nongovernmental group Transparency International. RFE/RL spoke with David Nussbaum, Transparency International's London-based chief executive.

• October 10, 2005

  World: Forum 2000 Looks At War on Terror

  James Woolsey Are the Islamic world and the West on a collision course? Has the ouster of Saddam Hussein improved the chances for democracy in the Middle East? Is the war on terror being won or lost? These are just some of the issues discussed today at the Forum 2000 conference in Prague. The annual gathering, launched in 1997 by former Czech President Vaclav Havel, brings together prominent politicians and thinkers from around the world to discuss ways to avert threats to international peace.

• October 07, 2005

  World: Who Is The Enemy -- And How Is It Changing? (Part 2)

  When Islamic militants crashed airliners into New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people, U.S. President George W. Bush responded by declaring war on terrorism" But since 9/11, and military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the enemy in this U.S.-led campaign has seemingly multiplied, while growing more elusive. From Britain to Bali, various armed groups -- either loosely affiliated with Al-Qaeda or independent copycats -- are waging jihad on their own. In this second part of our four-part series on the War on Terror, we look at the shifting landscape of the struggle.

• October 05, 2005

  World: Concern Mounts Over Possible Flu Pandemic

  International concern is growing over the possible outbreak of an avian influenza (bird flu) epidemic. Last week, United Nations officials warned that bird flu, which has so far killed nearly 70 people mostly in Asia, could mutate into a form that could kill tens of millions of people worldwide, particularly in the Middle East. As Asian nations prepare to meet later this month to discuss planning for a potential outbreak, President George W. Bush told the U.S. Congress on 4 October that the military may be required to enforce quarantines in the event of an epidemic. U.S. scientists, meanwhile, are reporting today they have now discovered that the world’s last major flu pandemic -- which killed 50 million people in 1918 -- was a strain of bird flu that jumped to humans.

• October 04, 2005

  Turkey: Former Diplomat Discusses EU Challenges With RFE/RL

  Turkey has begun its membership talks with the European Union. The start of talks early today in Luxembourg came after difficult negotiations among EU foreign ministers and objections by Austria that had threatened to kill Turkey’s hopes for membership. Despite the successful outcome, Ankara now faces a decade or more of tough reforms that in the end still do not guarantee membership. Turkey must adopt EU laws in 35 areas or “chapters,” including justice, social, foreign, and security policy. RFE/RL correspondent Jeffrey Donovan discussed the challenges ahead with Resat Arim, a former Turkish ambassador to Berlin, Beijing, and Amman, and now with the Foreign Policy Institute at Ankara’s Bilkent University.

• August 24, 2005

  Poland: Solidarity -- The Trade Union That Changed The World

  Twenty-five years ago next Wednesday -- 31 August 1980 -- unemployed Polish electrician Lech Walesa struck a major blow to Soviet communism when, after leading a strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, he announced the official birth of the Solidarity independent trade union. Solidarity went on to play a central role in the demise of communism across the Soviet bloc, changing forever the course of history in Europe.

• July 27, 2005

  World: Pope Concerned About Islam, Orthodoxy In First 100 Days

  Pope Benedictine XVI Today marks 100 days since the election of Pope Benedict XVI as leader of the world’s 1 billion Roman Catholics. Prior to his elevation to Saint Peter’s throne, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had a reputation as a strict doctrinarian with a cool approach concerned more with religious dogma than engaging with the world and its problems. But Benedict has so far surprised on this count. He has proven to be a capable communicator on pressing issues, such as terrorism and tensions with the Islamic world, and improving Catholic ties with the Eastern Orthodox churches.

• July 13, 2005

  World: New Report Says World Faces 'Tipping Point' In Nuclear Proliferation

  In recent years, there has been progress in the fight against the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. But the world has now reached a "tipping point," where either a real breakthrough is achieved against the spread of lethal weapons -- or the entire international nonproliferation regime comes crumbling down, setting off a dangerous new arms race. That is one key conclusion of a new study by Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

• July 12, 2005

  World: Despite Post-London Solidarity, U.S. And Europeans Still Differ On Terror

  Europeans remain unconvinced that the fight against terrorism must primarily be military Trans-Atlantic solidarity on tackling terrorism is back in the headlines in the wake of last week's London bombings. Yesterday, U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair reiterated their commitment to fighting and defeating terrorism. Yet despite the common ground, the events in London once again highlight the glaringly different approach of Americans and Europeans in combating political violence. For Washington, "the war on terrorism" is fought primarily by military means. For the Europeans, it's less about waging war than it is about conducting intelligence and police actions. RFE/RL takes a look at the Trans-Atlantic gap on combating terrorism.

• June 30, 2005

  Uzbekistan: Is The Country Headed For Regime Change?

  Uzbek President Islam Karimov Following the unrest in the Uzbek city of Andijon last month, there is growing speculation about the future of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. And this week, a major essay in the British journal “Jane’s Intelligence Review” argues that “Uzbekistan is now spiraling irretrievably towards violent regime change.” Such an upheaval, the piece says, could leave in its bloody wake a “failed state” with continued violence driven by “an ugly cocktail of ethnicity, revenge, disparities of wealth, clan interests, organized crime, foreign interference, and religious extremism.”

• June 29, 2005

  World: Tensions Rise Over U.S. Terror War ‘Renditions’

  The whereabouts of the 13 CIA agents is unknown There are fresh tensions in Europe over the United States’ war on terrorism. This week, an Italian magistrate issued arrest warrants for 13 alleged agents of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), accusing them of kidnapping a radical Muslim cleric in Milan and flying him to Egypt where he reportedly was tortured. It is not the first time U.S. agents in Europe have been suspected of engaging in "rendition" -- apprehending alleged terrorists wherever they may be and transporting them for interrogation to another country, often one that uses torture.

• June 24, 2005

  U.S.: 60 Years Later, Nagasaki Bomb Witness Is Finally Heard

  George Weller When George Weller dodged U.S. military surveillance to sneak into Nagasaki on 6 September 1945, he became the first foreign reporter to see the Japanese city after its devastation four weeks previously by an American nuclear bomb. Working for the now defunct "Chicago Daily News," Weller spent several days touring overflowing hospitals, chronicling the then unknown effects of radiation. But his reports -- totaling 25,000 words -- never saw print. U.S. military censors suppressed them in what some say was a bid to cover up the real consequences of nuclear warfare. Weller later believed he had lost the copies of what he regarded as his greatest scoop. Sixty years later, shortly after his death, carbon copies of the historic dispatches surfaced. And this week, four of them were published in the Tokyo daily "Mainichi Shimbun." RFE/RL reports that while the discovery puts an end to one of the most intriguing mysteries of the Nuclear Age, Weller's story remains a cautionary tale for all journalists who face censorship.

• June 21, 2005

  Middle East: Reactions Mixed On Rice's Democracy Message

  Condoleezza Rice (file photo) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has wrapped up a tour of the Middle East in which she strongly criticized U.S.-allied governments in the region for failing to live up to democratic standards. The criticism was some of the strongest ever by a senior U.S. official, and comes amid a concerted U.S. campaign to spread democracy throughout the Muslim world. But not everyone in the Middle East was happy to hear Rice's words.

• May 19, 2005

  Uzbekistan: UN, EU Call For International Probe Into Violence

  Andijon's central square on 14 May The United Nations, European Union, and Britain have all called for an independent inquiry into last week's events in Uzbekistan, where witnesses say police shot dead at least 745 people during protests in the eastern town of Andijon. But what can the international community do to ascertain the facts and what leverage does it have to pressure Uzbekistan, whose authoritarian regime thrives in relative isolation?

• May 17, 2005

  Kuwait: Women Win Political Rights Over Islamist Opposition

  Saudi Arabia is now the only Mideastern nation with elections where women are not allowed to vote In a move that surprised even some of its members, the parliament of Kuwait has voted to give women the right to vote and run in parliamentary and municipal elections. Both the United Nations and the United States, which is seeking to spread democracy in the Muslim world, have hailed the move as a major step forward for Kuwaiti society. But conservatives in the small Persian Gulf nation are bitterly contesting the law, with some vowing eternal damnation for those who voted for it.

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