Although far from perfect, Taiwan's democracy is developing in a positive direction, as can be seen in the clean-up of campaign materials in recent years.

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By Richard Halloran
Tacked onto the end of the US Defense Department's new report on Chinese military power is an appraisal of the effort by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to transform itself "from a force dependent on mass to a streamlined, information-based military with highly qualified officers and soldiers."

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By Hua Jian 華健
With the presidential election approaching, the controversial Suhua Freeway project on Tuesday received a conditional go-ahead from the Environmental Protection Administration (環保署). The Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau (台灣區國道新建工程局) has said that the project, which could top NT$100 billion (US$3.25 billion), will commence this year. But there is still no clear indication that this would put an end to seven years of conflict or whether the project could proceed and be completed smoothly.

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By Jackson Yeh 葉國豪
With less than two weeks to the presidential election, now is a good time to revisit an assessment by political scientist Pei Minxin (裴敏欣) of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace before the 2004 election.

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Given the severity of the problems facing the sector, nothing less than a paradigm shift is needed － and the tools to do so are within reach
By Dennis Bushnell
Civil aeronautics is in the midst of becoming a "mature" industry, with all the drawbacks that this entails. For decades, technological advances have been essentially incremental and the industry remains largely based on long-haul transport aircraft, with an emerging small jet component and a legacy of general aviation markets and products. But it has become increasingly clear that the industry cannot survive in this form.

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To meet the challenges of the 21st century, the organization must shift away from a purely military approach
By Klaus Naumann, Henk Van Den Breemen, Peter Inge, Jacques Lanx
NATO needs a new strategy. We, five former defense chiefs of staff, recently published a booklet containing proposals for such a new strategy, as well as a comprehensive agenda for change.

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By Eric Weiner
Michael Cronin's job as a college admissions officer took him to India two or three times a year, so he had already seen the usual sites -- temples, monuments, markets -- when one day he happened across a flier advertising "slum tours."

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