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THE TERROR DIASPORA
US spreads blowback nightmare
As the war in Afghanistan winds down, the United States military has greater incentive and opportunity to project power ever deeper into Africa. US destabilization of the continent has already sparked the spread of terrorist outfits like wildfire (from none before 9/11), and now it's creating what increasingly looks like a blowback machine.
- Nick Turse
(Jun 20, '13)
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Iran and Hezbollah go global
Suspected Iranian terror cells from Nigeria to the Balkans to Latin America suggest Tehran and its ally Hezbollah are pushing back on a global scale against Western countries and Persian Gulf petro-monarchies seeking to squeeze the Islamic Republic's influence. Iran's increasing scientific links with nuclear-armed North Korea are worrisome to countries that claim a "Shi'ite web" is rising. - Emanuele Scimia
(Jun 20, '13)
Taliban hints at Afghan power-sharing
Amid attempts by the United States to defend efforts to negotiate with the Taliban, and Kabul's strident rejection of the hardline Islamic group's political representation in Qatar, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem expresses the militants' readiness to share power in Afghanistan. - Abubakar Siddique
(Jun 20, '13)
India places its Asian bet on Japan
Indian overtures to Japan suggest New Delhi, encouraged by the Abe administration's vigorous approach to restoring Japan's national and regional stature, has decided to place an open bet on the fellow democracy over state socialist China. By challenging the Chinese diplomatic narrative that has since World War II painted Tokyo as the colonizer, New Delhi's maneuver could shake up the Pacific power dynamic.
- Peter Lee
(Jun 20, '13)
Bad weather holds growth hostage
Erratic weather patterns are wreaking havoc across Sri Lanka, from more than 50 fishermen killed at sea during the past two weeks alone to the decimation of hydropower supplies in last year's drought. New research suggests that for Sri Lanka and other Asian countries extreme weather events are set to become the deciding factor in economic growth.
- Amantha Perera
(Jun 20, '13)
Nazarbayev, Karimov seek water solution
Central Asia's water disputes regularly feature in summits between heads of states, as governments in the region see long-standing supply problems as one of their biggest security threats. Yet Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan aimed to show this month that cooperation rather than conflict is the best path to a solution as they put water management at the heart of a new strategic agreement. - Margarita Assenova
(Jun 20, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Modernity makes a mark in Iran vote
The surprise victory of President-elect Hassan Rouhani in the Iranian elections represents the swing of the political pendulum by a voting public repulsed by eight years of hardline rule. In the battle between modernity and Islamic tradition, most moderates agree that revolutionary principles alone are too narrow a base to run a country where the middle class is in the ascendency. - Amin Shahriar
(Jun 19, '13)
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US-Taliban talks set to begin
Nearly 12 years after the United States ousted the Taliban, the US will begin formal talks with the militant Islamist group this week as part of Afghanistan's national reconciliation process. Whether a major change in US policy, or more a reflection of shifting power inside Washington, the road ahead will be long, and negotiations between the Taliban and the Hamid Karzai government will also be of crucial importance. - Jim Lobe
(Jun 19, '13)
Militants torch NATO lifeline
Intensified attacks on supply convoys from Pakistan for international forces in Afghanistan may signal a turning point for US drone attacks on militants on the AfPak border. With observers pointing out that the Taliban is in a stronger position than at any time since the 9/11 attacks, the main exit route for the 2014 withdrawal of troops is looking vulnerable, unless the US stops its drone program. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Jun 19, '13)
Hawks, doves and pipeline politics in Syria
On Syria, the US is allowing policy to steer intelligence, rather than vice versa, with the hawks overcoming the doves in a pattern memorable to the Iraq war. This time the rebel's largest benefactor - Qatar - could benefit most from brute energy realities. Syria's status as the most obvious land route for pipelines from the Persian Gulf explains Doha's deep pockets.
- Peter Dale Scott
(Jun 19, '13)
Child labor jars with Islamic tradition
As World Day Against Child Labor passed on June 12, thousands of young Southeast Asians were toiling in Arab Gulf countries in menial roles ranging from domestic service to manual labor. While that trend bucks centuries-old Islamic doctrines emphasizing labor rights, the shame is shared far beyond the Middle East.
- Ramzy Baroud
(Jun 19, '13)
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Cambodian opposition calls foul on election
Opposition coalition the Cambodia National Rescue Party says it will reject the result of next month's national election unless the ruling party ends the disruption of its campaign. The stand reflects a culture of harassment amid claims that local authorities and village chiefs have threatened opposition supporters and routinely prevent them from joining rallies.
(Jun 19, '13)
Where is inflation?
The Federal Reserve's trillions of dollars in money injection and near-zero interest rates have not triggered the feared inflation - nor the hoped-for economic growth. Like the dog that did not bark, this can be disconcerting, until we consider who is measuring inflation, and how. - Noureddine Krichene
(Jun 19, '13)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
The making of a global security state
PRISM underlines that the US has almost achieved what the USSR could only dream of: a global security state where every citizen's life is transparent and documented through data. But as this urge to control is taken forwards through state possession of DNA - a human's most basic code - resistance against Washington's rapidly expanding surveillance will also spread across the planet. - Tom Engelhardt
(Jun 18, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
Obama's weapons-for-peace program
The myth of US President Barack Obama as "reluctant warrior" in Syria is pure nonsense. Even his Russian counterpart, ex-KGB sickle Vladimir Putin, cannot convince him that expanding the proxy war would make the current - horrible - status quo look like a walk in the park. In its determination to arm "rebel" factions who would lose at the ballot box, the Obama administration has opted to play weapons-for-peace gambits rather than talk real democracy.
- Pepe Escobar
(Jun 18, '13)
SPENGLER
Syria and Egypt can't be fixed
Syria and Egypt were dying before the Syrian civil war broke out and before the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Cairo. They are are dying because they chose not move people from rural backwardness to a modern urban economy. Whatever the Western motivations for trying to help mend them, the two countries are broken and cannot be fixed.
(Jun 17, '13) |
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Japan-Taiwan pact
will not contain China
The recently concluded fisheries agreement between Japan and Taiwan has been seen as aimed by Tokyo at driving a wedge between Taipei and Beijing. That overlooks the comparable Sino-Japanese pact of 2000 and that the latest deal leaves open the door to further dialogue on the development of a new order in the East China Sea. - Madoka Fukuda
MICHAEL PETTIS
The real challenge
facing China's growth
Whether China has overinvested is contested by some analysts, who claim that with much less capital stock per capita than advanced countries it has a long way to go before hitting the productive limits of investment. But Beijing's real challenge is not about maintaining high growth rates, rather to raise China's levels of social capital.
(Jun 19, '13)
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
Capital in flight
The recent emerging markets sell-off highlights the difficulty of managing capital flight, even for those countries, notably in Asia, that have built up strong foreign reserves. China's economic managers may still have things under control. The same cannot be said for many of their fellow "developing" policymakers.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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Obama feels his way
around Iran’s Rouhani
Following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday the sidelines of the G8 summit in Belfast, President Barack Obama briefly commented on the victory of Hoj. Hassan Rouhani in Iran's presidential election. Earlier, within hours of the media reports signifying Rouhani’s victory, the White House swiftly reacted in manifestly positive terms.
- M K Bhadrakumar
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[Re Obama's Monica moment, Jun 14, 2013] Further arming the rebels is not about helping them in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad. It is about sending a message to Iran by looking tough.
Fariborz S Fatemi
McLean, VA
USA
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