January 2005 Issue
Bush Term Two: Drill in Alaska
Adil W. Ahmad '05Kaktovik, Barter Island, is the only inhabited town on the Coastal Plain of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It was established in 1923 by Tom Gordon as a fur trading post but the region has been inhabited by man for over ten millennia. Despite development in the rest of the world, Kaktovik has remained largely primitive. Its people, the Inupiat Eskimos, live a subsistence lifestyle. Few people hold permanent jobs, which are generally limited to low-income or menial positions. Their primary occupation is gathering food year round, which, given the arctic temperatures in the winters, becomes severely limited for a significant portion of the year. There are no proper health or educational facilities on the island...
Read Bush Term Two: Drill in Alaska
November 2004 Issue
Why The War Was Right
Adil W. Ahmad '05One of the guiding principles of American foreign policy for the last 200 years is that the United States goes to war against a state not when it wants to but only when it has to. No wonder, the United States has militarily participated in a mere five wars in the 20th century. Justifications for involvement in the two World Wars need not be debated; however, the Korean and Vietnam wars were fought to limit the spread of communism in eastern Asia. In retrospect, we can argue that the two wars were unnecessary because North Korea and Vietnam did not quite align themselves with USSR. Nevertheless, given the grim intelligence at the time and the ambitious expansionist agenda of Soviet leaders, many scholars felt that the wars were justified. It is interesting to note that all four of these wars were fought by Democratic administrations in Washington – those of Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman and Johnson, respectively...