Government & Politics

Television critic David Bianculli previews three shows worth catching this week...David Frost's interview with General Norman Schwarzkopf, Bob Costas' interview with musician Paul Simon, and the political comedy "House of Cards," premiering this week on Masterpiece Theater.

Writer James Smith's new book, "The Idea Brokers," examines the growing influence and inner workings of Washington's many research organizations. Several think tank members provided commentary for news networks during the Gulf War.

Travel and adventure writer Eric Hansen. His new book, "Motoring with Mohammed," is a first-person account of Hansen's attempt to recover the dairies he buried on the coast of Yemen a decade before, after being ship wrecked there.

Former Washington Post investigative journalist Scott Armstrong says that the United States wanted to topple Saddam Hussein, even if that meant a longer war. He talks about how a media blackout, poor intelligence, and scant details provided by the government have led to an incomplete picture of the conflict.

Peebles is the son of the legendary director Melvin Van Peebles. His film New Jack City is set in Harlem, and features a grim, gritty, and violent world of crack dealers and users.

We explore the roots of the Israeli-Arab problem with Charles Smith, a professor of Middle Eastern history at San Diego State University, and the author of "Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict."

National Affairs Director of the National Black Police Association, Officer Ron Hampton, has been a policeman for 19 years. He's gotten a reputation for speaking out against the misuse of power in the police force, which Hampton says is distressingly common. He'll discuss the beating of Rodney King by LAPD officers.

Professor Bill Beeman of Brown University discusses the historical and cultural background of the Kurdish population in the Middle East. Without a country of their own, the Kurds have taken what support they can get from other players in the region. With the Gulf War over, there has been a Kurdish uprising in Iraq, which threatens Saddam Hussein.

McPherson is currently working on a new book about the aftermath of the Romanian Revolution. An excerpt of the book recently appeared in the literary magazine, "Granta."

James Fallows, the Washington editor for "The Atlantic Monthly." Fallows will discuss the ways America is still punishing Vietnam through economic means, despite the end of hostilities between the two countries.

Richard Mkhondo is a black South African who reports on his home country. He says the government's recent legislation to roll back apartheid will have minimal impact on blacks, and does nothing to to address the issue of restitution.

Joe Davidson is a Black American reporter who has been covering the recent apartheid reforms for the Wall Street Journal. He shares his take on the situation on the ground, and describes some of the discrimination he's faced.

In the 1970s, both Sitkovetsky and his mother emigrated to the U.S. In 1988, he became the first post-war Soviet emigre musician to be invited back to USSR to perform. He comes from a family of accomplished musicians; his mother is pianist Bella Davidovich, and his father is Julian Sitkovetsky.

Jodi Jacobson is senior researcher at the World Watch Institute. Her report, "The Global Politics of Abortion," examines how various countries handle the issue of reproductive rights, and the affect that can have on the global scale. She's discovered that more restrictive policies did nothing to curtail abortion -- in fact, they increased the chance of maternal death.

Joe Stork discusses how the region's political powers have shifted since conflict in Iraq has ended.

Foreman faces federal felony charges for allegedly plotting to blow up power lines leading to a nuclear power plant. His organization Earth First! has been praised and vilified for its use of "monkey wrenching" -- acts of sabotage and civil disobedience against organizations that are hurting the earth. Foreman, who has since distanced himself from the group, has a new book, called "Confessions of an Eco-Warrior."

We talk with Gerd Leipold of the the Free Seas Campaign of Greenpeace. Leipold's group is calling for another Geneva Convention, this one to establish environmental rules for war.

Professor Thomas Naff of the University of Pennsylvania and head of the Middle East Water Project. He discusses the overwhelming importance of water in the Middle East; water beneath the Ocupied Territories may be a factor in the Israeli government's refusal to cede lands to the Palestinians.

Current budgets are proposing massive cuts in the arts funding of many states. We examine this issue with Stephan Salisbury, arts reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. We'll also have reaction from two officials in Michigan, where the cuts have been especially drastic.

Oz talks about the postwar discussions toward an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He and Terry also discuss Oz's latest novel, "To Know A Woman."