International Affairs

Roger Fisher, director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and Professor of Law at Harvard, joins Fresh Air by phone to talk about alternatives to military intervention in the current conflict between Iraq and Kuwait.

National Organization for Women vice president Patricia Ireland says that the cultural place and treatment of women both in Arab countries and the American military is evidence of a gender apartheid. She joins Fresh Air to explain her organization's positions.

Journalist Hedrick Smith was a reporter for the New York Times for 26 years. He reported from the Soviet Union from 1971-1974. His new book, The New Russians, considers the changing political, economic and social cultures of the country under Mikhail Gorbachev's liberalizing reforms.

In light of the Gulf crisis, Terry talks with Andrew Whitley, executive director of Middle East Watch. That group is a division of Human Rights Watch, an organization that monitors human rights violations in different regions of the world. Next, Terry talks with Sergeant George Rowen, of the of the New York National Guard. Rowen leaves for the Gulf in two weeks; his wife, who's also in the Guard, is stationed in Saudi Arabia.

Daniel Yergi is president of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an international energy consulting firm. He is one of the leading authorities on the oil business, and has a new book called, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power," which details how European interventions in the Middle East in the wake of World War I shaped the modern petroleum trade.

Terry talks with Marie Burke, a wife and mother in Calhoun, Georgia. Burke has three sons, all of whom are in the Georgia National Guard and have been called to active duty.

Reporter Steven Mufson covered South Africa for three years; he was expelled by the country's government in 1987. His new book, "Fighting Years," is about the conflicts among black communities over the which forms of resistance against the apartheid government are most effective.

Journalist Lawrence Weschler is a staff writer for the New Yorker and has been covering Eastern Europe for the past decade. He joins Fresh Air to talk about labor leader Lech Walesa's successful democratic election, and the fallout of Poland's changing government and economy.

The famed astronomer and writer is co-author of the new book, "A Path Where No Man Thought." It's about the theory that even a small nuclear war would lead to a nuclear winter that would devastate the earth.

Rashid Khalidi is a professor of modern Middle East history at the University of Chicago. He and Terry talk about the proposal for an international peace conference on the Mideast, which includes calls for further negotiations in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Soviet journalist Artem Borovik Borovik covered the Soviet war in Afghanistan. His first hand account of that war has given him insight into the difficulties associated with combat in harsh climates -- conditions American soldiers may face during any intervention in the Gulf crisis.

In this two-part interview, Terry speaks first with Trudy Rubin, a Mideast expert on the editorial board at the "Philadelphia Inquirer." Rubin's just left Baghdad. We speak to her from Amman, Jordan. Next, Terry is joined by David Fromkin. They talk about the colonial interventions in the Middle East around World War I, and how those actions resonate today.

Reporter Pat Ford talks with Reverend Emory Searcy, Jr., the executive director of Clergy and Laity Concerned. They'll talk about the irony of the UN deadline on Iraq falling on Martin Luther King's Birthday, and the role minorities have played in American conflicts.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg on the jingoistic language of the Gulf Crisis. That style of discourse is closely linked to pro-war sentiments during the period of British colonialism.

Terry speaks with Iraqi-American Mohammed Latif. He's lived in the United States for the last 30 years, but still has family in Iraq. Latin is worried about how the war has affected the treatment and safety of Arabs in America. Next, Terry talks about the history of Pan-Arabism with writer and scholarly Philip Khoury. Khoury says Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is hypocritically using this discourse to rally Arabs support of his actions.

Journalist Robert Cullen covers the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He joins Fresh Air to talk about recent crackdowns on rights in the U.S.S.R. and advances in the Baltic Republics. Cullen is currently working on a book about the Soviet empire.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on the way English speakers use the suffix "e" and "i" to lump together most nationalities in the Middle East (Kuwati, Iraqi...). He says the practice has its roots in the 19th and 20th century colonial period, and says a lot about how we view people in that region.

Fresh Air producer Amy Salit talks with Patrick Seale, author of "Asad: The Struggle for The Middle East." They'll discuss Syria's role in the current war, and the country's recent political history.

Two interviews in this segment: First, Terry talks with Roger Fisher, the head of the Harvard Negotiation Project. He explains why it's still not too late to negotiate with Saddam Hussain. Then Terry speaks with journalist and long-time China watcher, Orville Schell; they'll discuss the current trials of some of the leaders of the student-led, pro-democracy movement.

Fresh Air producer Amy Salit interviews Joe Stork, the editor-chief of "Middle East Report." He'll discuss the unequal distribution of wealth in the Middle East. Kuwait's has a strong economy tied to their oil production; their reluctance to share it with other, poorer, Arab countries has been cited as one of the motives behind Iraq's invasion.