What’s New January 2003

This page lists recent changes made to this site such as new pages, or updates to existing sections. The "Find Out More" links will take you to the changes. If this jumps to the middle of a page, you can easily scroll up to understand the context of the new information a bit further.

Date of Update

Description


January 23, 2003


  1. Updates have been added regarding the Iraq crisis and the build up for possible war. Controversies continue about the discovery of empty warheads, lack of substantive support by the Iraq regime during the weapons inspections, etc. At the same time, there have been many mass protests around the world against a war on Iraq. A number of nations from Europe and elsewhere have highlighted that they are against military action, especially if it is not mandated by the United Nations, while the U.S. and U.K. try to suggest that a war may be possible without U.N. backing. Find Out More »
    - Related Section(s): Iraq / Middle East / War On Terror / Propaganda


  2. The level of free press in even some democratic countries is surprisingly low. Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters without Borders) recently released a Press Freedom Index, ranking nations based on the level of the freedom of the press. While the general pattern found was to be expected (that democracies tended to have the freest press, while totalitarian and communist regimes tended to be the worst), there were some surprises too. For example, the U.S. was ranked just 17th, United Kingdom only 21st and Italy way down at 40th. On the plus side, a few poor developing countries such as Costa Rica (ranked 15th) and Benin (joint 21st with the United Kingdom and Uruguay) fared quite well. A free press is one of the crucial elements to a functioning democracy. However, the world over, there are constant and various threats to press freedom. The media introduction page on this web site has been updated with links to the report and more. Find Out More »
    - Related Section(s): Mainstream Media


  3. New!A new page about the Vietnam war has been added. This page looks at the background of the conflict, and also the impact on media reporting, some of the aspects of propaganda, and how these affected the various beliefs and perceptions about that war. Find Out More »
    - Related Section(s): Propaganda / Mainstream Media / Geopolitics


  4. Are we moving from MAD to NUTS with regards to nuclear weapons? In recent months, the cold war nuclear weapons principle of Mutually Assured Destruction seems as though it is slowly being replaced by Nuclear Use Theories. For example, the U.S. has abrogated the Anti Ballistic Missile treaty, while also pushing for more options to use nuclear weapons in the event of war. In addition, North Korea has recently withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty and announced that it is restarting its nuclear program with the fear that this could lead to nuclear weapons development. It has also threatened to resume ballistic missile tests. This potentially increases the threat of instability and of arms races as various nations consider such options. MAD may have been an old principle, but NUTS hardly seems the way forward for peace, if it threatens to get other nations to consider nuclear options. Find Out More »
    - Related Section(s): Arms Control / Geopolitics