International affairs

Nigerian-born journalist Ken Wiwa writes for the Toronto Globe and Mail. He is the son of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, one of Nigerias best-loved writers and vocal critics of the military rule. Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military regime in 1995. Ken Wiwa has written the new memoir, In the Shadow of a Saint: A Sons Journey to Understand His Fathers Legacy.

New York Times reporter Steve Erlanger returns to the show to talk about the upcoming trial before the International War Crimes Tribunal of Slobodon Milosevic.

Journalist Michela Wrong is the author of the new book In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo. The book examines the 1960 CIA plot to murder Patrice Lumumba who was then leader of newly independent Congo. The plot led to Lumumba's removal from power and the ascension of Mobutu Sese Seko. Wrong is a staff reporter with The Financial Times.

Journalist Anne Nivet (“NEE-VAH”) is Moscow correspondent for the French paper Liberation. Two years ago, after the Russians denied her press access to Chechnya, she disguised herself as a Chechen peasant woman and snuck across the boarder. For six months she followed the war, traveling with the underground rebels and staying with families. Her reports were published in Liberation. Her new memoir is “Chienne De Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War In Chechnya”

This Friday, George W. Bush embarks on his first presidential trip outside the US. He will travel to Mexico to meet the new president of Mexico, Vincente Fox. We talk about Mexico with Journalist Sam Quinones. He has been covering Mexico for 7 years. His new book is called, True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx. Quinones work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, LA Weekly, and Ms Magazine.

Senior analyst at the National Security Archive, Peter Kornbluh. Recently the CIA released thousands of secret U.S. documents about their role in the overthrow of the Allende government in Chile in 1973. Kornbluh led the effort to get the documents declassified.

New York Times reporter and Prague Bureau Chief Steve Erlanger. He’ll talk to us about Serbia after the elections that ended the rule of Milosevic. And he’ll talk about the new president, Vojislav Kostunica. Erlanger will report to us from Belgrade. (

Journalist Elaine Sciolino. She covered Iran for some 20 years for Newsweek and the New York Times. Her new book “Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran” (Free Press) was just released last month. It illustrates the culture of Iran: its press, its movie industry, its restaurants and homes. She speaks today on Iran’s political position during the Middle East crisis. She is a Senior Writer at the Washington bureau for the New York Times. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Journalist Stan Sesser. He covers the Pacific Rim for The New Yorker. His articles have appeared in the New Yorker, the New Republic and Mother Jones. Sesser has written extensively about Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore’s first prime minister and its current senior minister-- Lee Kuan Yew. A very controversial figure, Lee Kuan Yew formed the People’s Action Party, and won the first Singapore general election in 1959. Since it was granted independence in 1965, Singapore has gone from British colony to Asian economic powerhouse. Yet, its government is often criticized for being too authoritarian and weak on civil liberties. Lee Kuan Yew will talk about his country’s economic success, as well as the criticism about his government’s treatment of its citizens.