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Bangladesh political crisis deepens
Bangladesh's main opposition party threatened to call another nationwide strike if its leaders continue to languish in police custody after their arrest for allegedly inflaming violence at a rally in Dhaka on Monday. With sporadic attacks and protests leaving a long trail of destruction through the country and the death-toll climbing, the tense standoff between political foes shows no sign of abating. - Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
(Mar 14, '13)
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Death of a killer in Cambodia
Ieng Sary, Cambodian foreign minister during the Khmer Rouge's genocidal rule, has died aged 87 in a Phnom Penh hospital before a United Nations-backed tribunal could deliver a verdict on his role in the regime's bloody crimes. That is a set back for the court, which faces allegations of political interference, a funding crisis and two remaining elderly Khmer Rouge defendants in declining health.
- Sebastian Strangio
(Mar 14, '13)
Japan and Philippines align interests
The convergence of Japan's and the Philippines' threat perceptions of China will ultimately determine the depth of the two sides' strategic cooperation. Domestic concerns have also influenced Manila's receptiveness to Tokyo's soft power diplomacy and strategic overtures, as bilateral ties with Tokyo moved from platitudes to genuinely empowering military assets and economic assistance.
- Julius Cesar I Trajano
(Mar 14, '13)
South Korean right on target
A South Korean conservative activist throws a water balloon onto a banner showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun and his troops during a rally in Seoul denouncing North Korea's threat to "wipe out" a South Korean island as Pyongyang came under new economic and diplomatic fire from US sanctions and UN charges of rights abuses. |
Securing the Indian state from the people
Renewed demands to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir by activists who say it protects human-rights violators underline the draconian nature of numerous statues in Indian enforced for "national security". Often security and "anti-terror" laws not only contradict the tenets of democracy, they continue colonial-era legislation enacted to control a rebellious population fighting the British Empire. - Ninan Koshy
(Mar 14, '13)
Turkmenistan goes green, and is happy
A drive by Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to have 3 million trees planted aims to transform his country into a ''blooming garden and further enrich its beautiful nature in the era of power and happiness''. He seems to be succeeding, with young women lauding him at one planting, ''The whole nation is clapping for you.The country is stable, people are happy. Long live our protector.'
- Deana Kjuka (Mar 14, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Erdogan's rhetoric is Kerry's headache
Rising tensions between Turkey and the United States are a headache for Secretary of State John Kerry. Yet the strain lies not in any actions, but rather in rhetoric as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows he is willing to put old alliances at risk for the sake of scoring points with a domestic audience.
- Egemen B Bezci and Geoffrey Levin
(Mar 13, '13)
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China seizes day
for market forces
A roll-back of the state by restructuring the functions and philosophy of ministries in China and a strong push to hand control of vital concerns such as energy policy back to the center are the deep and long-term changes emanating from this month's National People's Congress. Together they suggest real urgency to give space to market forces. - Francesco Sisci
(Mar 13, '13)
Bo Xilai airbrushed from family album
Defiant gestures by deposed Chongqing chief Bo Xilai from jail, from reported beard-growing protests to hunger strikes, underline why the party needed him gone before Xi Jinping is endorsed as president. US pop historians may overplay Bo's significance, but his is a cautionary tale and highlights that no one is bigger than the party.
- Muhammad Cohen (Mar 13, '13)
Pakistan tests US will with Iran pipeline
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari this week joined hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to mark the start of the final phase of a pipeline planned to carry Iranian natural gas into the energy-starved Pakistani economy. If built, it would be diplomatic and economic blow to US sanctions against Tehran, while showing India the benefits of energy independence from Washington. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Mar 13, '13)
US 'rebalancing' to Asia still a priority
US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon, in a major policy address, put US heft behind South Korea against the provocations of the North and criticized China over cyber-attacks. Amid growing tensions and concerns about the White House's intense focus on the Middle East, the intended message appeared to be that the Asian "pivot" remains on track.
- Jim Lobe
(Mar 13, '13)
COMMENT
Doublespeak on Myanmar's Rohingya
Myanmar's officials are increasingly adept with the buzzwords, notably ''transparency'', used by modern-day bureaucrats and business folk to curtain their dealings. In this case, it is the last word to apply to local and regional treatment of Rohingyas, whose slaughter and mistreatment is an internal matter, argues Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his like.
- Ramzy Baroud (Mar 13, '13)
India strives to make
itself drought proof
Irregular monsoons and drought can devastate the livelihood of India's vast rural population, many already struggling under a burden of debt. The country can do little about the monsoons, but aims to protect itself and farmers better against drought. - Manipadma Jena (Mar 13, '13)
Fukushima hits public purse
Public funds are being drawn to help TEPCO deal with the aftermath, two years on, of the Fukushima disaster. Yet the nuclear industry that supplied gear to the plant is protected by laws safeguarding profits, returns that could grow as atomic energy comes back into favor in Japan.
- Stephen Leahy (Mar 13, '13)
China eyes post-Chavez oil axis
Fears that China plans to "lock down" oil reserves before the advent of peak oil appear overstated, but there's little doubt that demand for oil to feed China's quest for global economic dominance will create geopolitical clashes. Keen interest Beijing has shown in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez's passing suggests the struggle could start in the US's backyard. - Brendan P O'Reilly
(Mar 12, '13)
More fuel to South China Sea disputes
The oil and gas deposits lying under the South China Sea in areas may indeed be "vast", maybe not. Either way, their size in terms of global availability of such resources is small - and hardly merits the conflict that might arise from China's claims to the area. Why then has it abandoned its "peaceful rise" policy towards its neighbors in pursuing those claims?
- David Brown
(Mar 12, '13)
SPENGLER
US exceptionalism
a matter of faith
Claims that the era of American Exceptionalism is over are exaggerated at best. What has made the United States radically different from all other big industrial nations during the past generation is a fertility rate above replacement, and religious folk are the last who seem determined to keep it that way. The question is not what we forecast, but whether we will keep faith.
(Mar 12, '13)
Abe touches a raw nerve in South Korea
 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's turning on the charm to lighten the mood in relations has done little to help and probably more to enrage Park Geun-hye, his counterpart in South Korea, amid a string of off-color remarks from officials in Tokyo. Nerves in Seoul over the countries' troubled history are raw and exposed.
- Daniel Leussink
(Mar 12, '13)
Quagmire politics in Sabah
As tensions run high in Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah following a stand-off between insurgents from the southern Philippines and Malaysian security forces, militant action is lending credence to claims that the conflict has been manufactured to stir trouble at a politically sensitive time. The risks are rising of a wider crisis that could delay Malaysia's general election. - Nile Bowie
(Mar 12, '13)
Mission unaccomplished
United States' troops first entered Baghdad a decade ago next month. From that inglorious point to the moment in December 2011 when the last American combat unit slipped out of Iraq in the dead of the night, the mission was madness. And still there is a refusal to look defeat in the face and to recognize the invasion for what it was: the single worst foreign policy decision in American history.
- Peter Van Buren
(Mar 12, '13)
Karzai gives Hagel a tour d'horizon
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel got an early taste of the Afghan political soup at the weekend - with bitterness a predominant flavor and ladled out in strong measure by President Hamid Karzai. Hagel's denial of dealings with the Taliban was thin gruel. If he and the US are really concerned with Afghanistan's post-withdrawal future, they should let Karzai get on with his job. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Mar 11, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
The Fall of the
House of Europe
The great Dante set out for his 14th century Italian (and European) contemporaries the descent that awaited them after they shuffled off life's coil. His modern day descendants, alas, must cope without the wisdom of his Virgil to guide a way through the terrors as the European project belches anger and avarice on its way to (possibly yet more violent) self-destruction.
- Pepe Escobar (Mar 11, '13)
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India's production strength a mirage
India's industrial production started the year with an expansion welcomed by the government in glowing terms. That song has been used before and it will take the next couple of months to confirm whether this is a green healthy shoot or a withering weed.
- Kunal Kumar Kundu
Afghanistan faces cash hole
The Afghan economy faces severe constriction following the withdrawal of US troops, in part because much of the billions of dollars in aid has been ''lost'' due to waste and massive corruption. One consequence will be the inability of security forces to maintain a stable state.
- Richard Sale
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
Q4 2012 Flow Of Funds
The US Federal Reserve's latest ''flow of funds'' report confirms that policymakers have painted themselves into a corner. The Fed may wish to change its quantitive easing policy, yet the liquidity backdrop has so unsettled global markets that central bankers will seek any excuse to avoid watering down the punch.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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Italy forces India to see
the light of reason
Indian federalism is indeed taking a grotesque turn. The issue of the Italian marines becomes the third issue where Indian diplomacy is going to be buffeted by electoral politics. India’s ties with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are already reeling under the assault of the Dravida parties and the Trinamool respectively.
- M K Bhadrakumar
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