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Buddhism turns violent in Myanmar
Recent violence in Myanmar between Buddhists and Muslims, which has left a reported 43 people dead and more than 1,000 homes and building destroyed, has caused concern over the stability of the country's current democratic transition and raised the specter of a return to direct military rule. - Matthew J Walton
(Apr 2, '13)
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Coalition frays on eve of Iran nuclear talks
 China and Russia are increasingly at odds with their other P5+1 partners (the US, Britain, France, plus Germany) on the eve of talks with Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, according to Javier Solana. The European Union's former top foreign policy official says fears of a spike in energy prices due to additional Western sanctions are driving the rift. - Jim Lobe
(Apr 2, '13)
Korean cloud obscures Almaty talks
Washington is grappling with "clear and present danger" from North Korean provocations, a fact that is not lost on Tehran, which senses the crisis has handed it additional chips in this week's round of nuclear diplomacy in Kazakhstan. Under the cloud of Korea, there are plenty of indications that the US will let another opportunity for an Iranian endgame pass it by.
- Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Apr 2, '13) |
Taiwan war games get back their bang
Tensions between mainland China and Taiwan have never been more absent since the island went its own way from Beijing. So President Ma Ying-jeou's decision to re-introduce live-firing of ammunition in annual war-game maneuvers raises several questions. The answers, it seems, have more do to do with domestic issues than a changed perception of the Taiwan's potential foe.
- Jens Kastner
(Apr 2, '13)
Centralized power key to Xi's 'China dream'
After his election, President Xi Jinping cited three precedents for fulfilling the "China dream", all concerned with creating conditions for a "renaissance". Judging from how he has concentrated ministerial responsibilities, in contrast to dictums of late patriarch Deng Xiaoping, he might have added a fourth precedent, the Leninist doctrine of centralizing power.
- Willy Lam
(Apr 2, '13)
Obama walks Mid-East
high wire, eyes closed
US President Barack Obama is walking on a tightrope when it comes to Israel, Palestine, and Iran. As his recent trip to the Middle East shows, he is treading a thick line between reality and fantasy, and his peacemaking balancing act could come crashing down, exposed as a myth.
- Ira Chernus
(Apr 2, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
How Christians lost their anarchist spirit
That the Gospels are filled with tales of Jesus and his disciples committing acts of civil disobedience or launching revolutionary non-violent campaigns seems hard to fathom given that today's Church hardly expounds the philosophy that governments are responsible for society's ills. A deeper exploration of early Christianity's anarchist leanings suggests the movement lit the Great Fire of Rome.
- Dallas Darling
(Apr 2, '13)
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US, China and playful AfPak frogs
US Secretary of State John Kerry is learning bit-by-bit the secrets of the Asian bazaar and the frustrating problem of keeping live toads on the balancing scale. Mollifying Afghan President Hamid Karzai - even if that did not serve US interests - was one thing. Keeping the Big Frog, the Pakistan military, from then upsetting the pan was quite another. And the Big Frog is the one Washington needs the most.
- M K Bhadrakumar
(Mar 28, '13)
Sabah crisis sends wider ripples
Government leaders in Manila and Kuala Lumpur, both facing electoral challenges in the near future, must go carefully in their handling of the fighting in Sabah initiated by a Philippines-based group laying claim to the Malaysian territory, which is home to thousands of their compatriots with many more living in peninsular Malaya.
- Richard Javad Heydarian
(Mar 28, '13)
The Syrianization of Syria rolls on
Syria is overtaking any other part of the world as the paradigm of complete fragmentation of a geographic and political entity. In the race to disintegration of the regime or the main rebel groups opposing it, the fissures may overtake the sweeping (and some say inaccurate) concept of Balkanization as shorthand for failed state.
- Victor Kotsev
(Mar 28, '13)
Iranian people caught in crossfire of duel
Dueling messages between United States President Barack Obama and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei make it clear that the Iranian people are caught in the rhetorical crossfire, as subjects to be wooed and courted but whose economic welfare is not of much concern. - Farideh Farhi
(Mar 28, '13)
The US's other dark legacy in Iraq
Often overlooked in post-mortems of the US occupation of Iraq is the spectacularly poor job the US did in governing the conquered state. From simple water and sewage to the provision and other basic utilities, Washington's knack at fostering corrupt practices has resulted in a failing state apparatus as much doomed by its inefficient foundations as today's woeful security situation. - Joy Gordon
(Mar 28, '13)
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South Korea, Japan: a reignited rivalry
 The ascendency of K-pop as Western interest fades in facets of Japanese pop culture that so intrigued in the 1990s reflects a shift in East Asia's power dynamic as Japan's post-World War II "economic miracle" drifts into memory. With territorial disputes replacing post-colonial tensions, it seems that despite Seoul and Tokyo's overlapping economic and security interests, another delicate stage in relations looms. - Jieh-Yung Lo
(Mar 28, '13)
Child-abuse victims jailed in Afghanistan
Activists in Afghanistan say children are imprisoned for "moral crimes" in some child-abuse cases while their adult assailants escape prosecution. The country's independent commission rights lists numerous cases. The government won't say how many abused children are in detention and describes the commission's claim as a lie. - Mina Habib
(Mar 28, '13)
Race on for ports, pipelines in Myanmar
While India envisions a democratized Myanmar as crucial to the "Look East" policy designed to expand Delhi's influence in that direction, China sees the country as a transshipment point for fuel piped overland. As competition ramps up for economic preeminence, the former pariah state could reap the most benefits. - Eric Draitser
(Mar 28, '13)
ASIA HAND
No war, no peace in Thailand
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has presided over a period of detente in the country's still unresolved political conflict, even as her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra remains in self-exile. The sustainability of Yingluck's present position hinges on the interplay of her own threatened legal standing, Thaksin's strategic mindset, and the royal household's state of health. - Shawn W Crispin
(Mar 27, '13) |
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CHAN AKYA
Beyond parody
Who needs parody when the news - such as "Governments borrow to fight debt crisis" - already fills the spot, supported by ill-informed commentators and readers/ audiences? People in the West, emerging from a period of prosperity and "entitlement'' are ill-equipped to deal with this crisis, and hard facts are putting comedy writers out of work.
CREDIT
BUBBLE BULLETIN
Weber's invaluable insight
Europe's Axel Weber questions whether central banks are trying to counter something that is cyclical, when in fact the core issue could be structural - with the result that a lot of stimulus undermines the future. That is in stark contrast to the US view, still held in spite of the evidence of recent history.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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India bypasses
Iran oil sanctions
Last week petroleum minister Veerappa Moily denied the western media reports that India is terminating its oil imports from Iran. The manner in which Moily articulated the denial caught the mind's eye. He said, "These are strategic calls to be taken and we will not cut down imports completely. We will sort out the problems faced by Indian refiners soon."
- M K Bhadrakumar
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[Re Passing the Buck on North Korea, March 28, 13] North Korea does not need to resort to militant posturing if all it wants is direct negotiations with the US on issues of security, trade, etc. All it needs to do as behave in a grown-up manner.
John in KS
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