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Obama moves on Iran, Putin keeps Syria
Russian triumphalism over the UN resolution on Syria's chemical weapons contrasts with US President Barack Obama's inaudible sigh of relief at the weekend that he can avoid military action - for the present at least - and focus on the feelgood Iran file. Yet amid celebrations that Washington and Moscow actually agree on something, a dark foreboding is simmering away. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Sep 30, '13) |
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A whiff of reform in Cambodia
The ease with which Cambodian Prime  Minister Hun Sen has brushed aside claims of electoral fraud and an opposition boycott of parliament following contested elections in July suggests a huge vote swing against him had little impact. Yet evidence of how the poll rattled him can be seen in uncharacteristic demands for reforms and accountability.
- Peter Tan Keo
(Sep 30, '13)
"Donkey ambulance" rides to the rescue
A new invention promises to carry mothers-to-be in Afghanistan across difficult terrain so they can get the medical care they need. The inflatable donkey saddle eases the burden of traveling in labor that makes many women lacking suitable transport opt to give birth at home - and risk not getting care if complications arise - rather than head to health centers. - Antoine Blua
(Sep 30, '13)
Islamabad forced to rethink India policy
As Pakistan increasingly realizes that terrorism and militancy are by-products of its strategic depth maneuvers in the 2000s, instinctive mistrust of India is fading. The benefits of peace will also soon become clear, with high hope invested in the success of bilateral dialogue that such as that between the countries' prime ministers on Sunday.
- Deedar Hussain Samejo
(Sep 30, '13)
Pakistan rots from the top down
Pakistan's capacity for change has been badly fractured as its moral, intellectual and political consciousness is undermined by incompetent, corrupt leaders. Unless the people can develop a collective consciousness and focus on putting a younger, educated generation in power, the violence will continue and Pakistan will never fulfill its destiny of becoming a peaceful Muslim nation.
- Mahboob A Khawaja
(Sep 30, '13)
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Tibetan father immolates in China protest
A father of two burned himself to death in Sichuan province in the first self-immolation protest against China's policies in Tibetan-populated regions in more than two months. The death brings to 122 the total number of Tibetans in China who have self-immolated calling for Tibet's freedom and for the return of the Dalai Lama.
(Sep 30, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Abe flexes ugly military muscle
International comment on the choice of Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympic Games has been mildly supportive, but very little has been said about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's warmongering attempts to drop a constitutional pledge to "forever renounce" military force to settle international disputes. History demands more attention.
- Brian Cloughley
(Sep 27, '13)
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Turkey goes for Chinese take-away
 Turkey, a key NATO member, has gone for a US$3 billion Chinese take-away to ensure it has its own independent missile defense system. In ordering a version of the Hong Qi missile, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be telling Washington it no longer sees Turkey as Europe's front line state in the Middle East, and aims to manage his relationships with Iran and Syria on a more bilateral basis. - Peter Lee
(Sep 27, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
How the US is
enabling Syriastan
The big news from Syria is how demented jihadis of Jabhat al-Nusra and other nasties have ditched US-supported "moderates" to pledge allegiance to a Syria with Sharia law. Follow the money, not Washington's fairytale belief in its ability to control disparate hardcore jihadi gangs, to shatter the myth that a "democratic" Syria is still in the making.
- Pepe Escobar
(Sep 27, '13)
COMMENT
The US-Iran wrestling match
Current negotiations between Iran and the United States may be best described from Tehran's perspective as a wrestling match. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is willing to show "flexibility" in order to win the overall competition, but has also laid out clear red lines for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to show no weakness or humility to the United States.
- Alireza Nader
(Sep 27, '13)
Dangers in North Korean dual-track strategy
North Korea appears to have softened its approach to the outside world. Yet as confrontation makes way to moves towards dialogue, Pyongyang plans to boost the economy while strengthening nuclear capacity. Such a combination will only bring more potential for an East Asian arms race - and kill hopes for achieving the security guarantees needed to denuclearize the peninsula.
- Niklas Swanstrom
(Sep 27, '13)
 BOOK REVIEW
How the West
denied China's law
Legal Orientalism: China, the US and Modern Law
by Teemu Ruskola
This important book traces the remarkable hold Orientalist views demonizing China as lawless still have on political and cultural narratives about China's laws and legal institutions. It argues that at a time the word needs more accurate knowledge of Chinese legal concepts, present-day reforms equating to a "self-Orientalism" make that unlikely.
- Dinesh Sharma
(Sep 27, '13)
TPP a Trojan horse
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, planned to cover nearly 40% of the world's economy, is branded as a "free trade" agreement but has nothing to do with fair and equitable treatment. Its secretive commitments do, however, infringe mightily on the rights of individuals and sovereign states.
- Sachie Mizohata
(Sep 27, '13)
Obama: A hapless and wandering minstrel
Prospects for the Geneva process on Syria may be looking less dismal today than at dawn in New York on Tuesday. Yet, what lingers after President Barack Obama's United Nations speech is the sense of a lone superpower in a diminished role as a hapless regional power, unable or unwilling to assert itself. An era seems to be ending.
- M K Bhadrakumar
(Sep 26, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
Rouhani surfs the new WAVE
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani came to the United Nations, listened "carefully" to US President Barack Obama officially recognize the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's fatwa against nuclear weapons - and then called for a global coalition for peace to replace coalitions for war - in effect a call for a World Against Violence and Extremism. Now for the heavy lifting ... - Pepe Escobar
(Sep 25, '13)
RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY
Moscow issues Eurasia ultimatum
Russian President Vladimir Putin is drawing new battle lines to protect his Eurasian Union project, which aims at integrating the former Soviet republics under Moscow's leadership. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's "all or nothing" threat to Ukraine to cease flirtations with Europe and revert its eyes eastward is telling: Russia is concerned that the "defection" of its biggest neighbor will undermine ambitions to build more strategic depth.
- M K Bhadrakumar
(Sep 24, '13) |
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Free-trade Shanghai keeps on Internet gag
The Shanghai free-trade zone, a move to match the city with Hong Kong and London, opened on Sunday, but its bid for global status as a financial and trade center will have to manage without Internet freedom.
- Wen Jian and Gao Shan
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
Z1 and the doves
An economy on firm footing would demonstrate at least a reasonable balance within the real and financial sectors. We instead see ultra-low interest-rates and inflated incomes, corporate cash flows and earnings and a Federal Reserve struggling with even the most timid reduction of monetary inflation.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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Time to think big
on India's Iran ties
The US president Barack Obama was pipped to the Tehran post by Moscow by a whisker. Clearly, Obama planned his big announcement of making the historic overture to Tehran for the big annual occasion on Tuesday at Turtle Bay. But the Kremlin got wind of it, for sure. On Monday, Iranian media reported that Russia and Iran have reached agreement to build a new nuclear power plant at Bushehr.
- M K Bhadrakumar
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[Re Dangers in North Korean dual-track strategy, Sep 27, '13] North Korea is willing to talk to the US, but the Obama administration is deaf to Pyongyang's openness. Perhaps, Washington could learn something from its "diplomatic breakthrough" with Iran after 34 years, in changing its tone.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam
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