The Crackdown in Cuba. On the very day U.S. forces entered Iraq last March, Fidel Castro launched a major crackdown on Cuban dissidents; 75 have since been imprisoned. Just why he chose to crush the reformers remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: his country may be crumbling, but the comandante’s grip on power remains as tight as ever

What Future for the Oceans? Threatened by pollution, rising temperatures and water levels, and unrestrained fishing, the oceans' future is in jeopardy. The Bush administration and Congress must get their act together to protect them, and them wealth of natural resources, from a deepening crisis

The Lingering Legacy of Tiananmen. A new book sees the troubled U.S.-China relationship of the 1990s growing as much out of domestic politics on both sides as out of overarching strategic considerations