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10/8/2012Craig Chamberlain writer Craig Chamberlain by Craig Chamberlain published by Craig Chamberlain
Nuclear war seemed a very real possibility 50 years ago this month, as the U.S. confronted the Soviet Union over its placement of nuclear missiles in communist and (above) Fidel Castro-led Cuba. Prof. Ned O'Gorman examined the strategic Cold War thinking of key U.S. leaders during the decade prior to the Cuban crisis in his recent book "Spirits of the Cold War." O'Gorman discusses this confrontation, and the modern example in Iran, in an interview with News Bureau social sciences editor Craig Chamberlain.
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8/24/2012
The Aug. 23 shooting at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee and other hate crimes aimed at Sikhs in the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks suggest, many Westerners know little about the Sikh people and their beliefs, even though Sikhism is the worlds fifth largest religion with an estimated 30 million followers. UI Professor Pradeep Dhillon, a scholar of global aesthetics and ethics, who is a Sikh, recently spoke with News Bureau reporter Sharita Forrest about the philosophies of Sikhism and its cultural practices. (Above is the Harmandir Sahib, a well-known Sikh Temple in Amritsar, India. Credit: Diego Delso)
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7/10/2012
The leaders of China, Japan (above, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda), and South Korea agreed to start negotiations this year on a free-trade accord between three of Asias four biggest economies. Joseph L.C. Cheng is a professor of business at Illinois and an expert in international business. Cheng spoke with News Bureau reporter Phil Ciciora about what the proposed China-Japan-South Korea free-trade agreement would mean for the U.S. and the global economy.
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6/20/2012
Many world leaders and economists seemed to be holding their collective breath June 17 as debt-burdened Greece held its second parliamentary election in as many months. Would the Greeks choose the established center-right party that supports international bailout agreements? Or would they choose the upstart leftist party that vowed to tear up the agreements and the austerity measures that went with them? How serious would be the consequences if they did? Political scientist Kostas Kourtikakis, a native of Greece and lecturer at the University of Illinois, is an expert on the European Union and its institutions, as well as on the politics of Greece and the region. Kourtikakis was interviewed by News Bureau social sciences editor Craig Chamberlain.
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5/29/2012
French Professor Marcus Keller discusses the recent election of Francois Hollande as President of France. Hollande, seen here meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on May 18 at the White House, defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy to hold the country's top office. Here, Keller talks about why Hollande won and what it means for the western European nation going forward.
