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Obama dips toe in Syrian Rubicon
For the first time through the two-year old Syrian conflict, and against all expectations, the United States has mentioned the necessity of its commander-in-chief having the option to put "boots on the ground". Whether Barack Obama ends up deploying troops in Syria, the demarche that he should have such a choice underscores that iron has entered into the president's soul.
- M K Bhadrakumar
(Sep 4, '13)
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Splintered Damascus holds its breath
For some in the concrete-block ringed center of Damascus, the Syrian capital is a golden cage amid tight security and the sound of artillery on the outskirts. By contrast, restive working class suburbs such as Saida Zainb are battlegrounds between the government and the opposition. They are united only by tense anticipation as the US administration intensifies the pressure for an attack that some residents say is unthinkable.
- Karlos Zurutuza
(Sep 4, '13)
CHAN AKYA
Lousy game theory in Syria
Rather than convince tinpot dictators of the West's moral or military superiority, all the mooted attack on Syria will achieve is an acceleration in nuclear weapons programs of countries ranging from Egypt and Iran to Turkey. But for the West this is a Mount Everest moment - for once it must act simply due to expediency rather than strategy or humanitarian aims. - Chan Akya
(Sep 4, '13)
Show of strength in Indonesia
An image of newly inaugurated Indonesian military chief General Moeldoko forms a backdrop during a handover ceremony in eastern Jakarta on September 4. Moeldoko, who takes control of the armed forces from Admiral Agus Suhartono, said wants to form an anti-terror squad for the military similar to the police's Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88).
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Palestine talks doomed to repeat history
That Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas readily returned to peace talks despite a lethal Israeli raid on a Jerusalem refugee camp underlines the asymmetric nature of the current negotiation process. Abbas' acquiescence to sweeping concessions echoes previous attempts to secure peace. - Ramzy Baroud
(Sep 4, '13)
Jihadist books back in Pakistan classrooms
Hard-fought changes to remove Koranic verses preaching holy war from school textbooks in Pakistan's restive northwest are under threat. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's newly elected government has announced its intention to restore violent jihadist content in a decision that dismays teachers. - Frud Bezhan
(Sep 4, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
How Assad keeps the upper hand
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is well aware of the post-Iraq syndrome which sees Western powers unable to commit to any serious extent in the Middle East, and knows he can count on Iran, Hezbollah and Russia's support. Since Assad has the strategic upper hand in the conflict, by starting a "limited war" Washington will merely put Israel in the firing line. - Riccardo Dugulin
(Sep 4, '13)
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THE ROVING EYE
The indispensable (bombing) nation
The indispensable nation that drenched North Vietnam with napalm and agent orange, showered Fallujah with white phosphorus and large swathes of Iraq with depleted uranium is getting ready to attack Syria based on extremely dodgy evidence and the "moral high-ground". Anyone who believes the White House's pre-bombing maximum spin should rent a condo in Alice in Wonderland. - Pepe Escobar
(Sep 3, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Bo breaks from script,
but sticks to role
By contradicting his wife and top aide's testimonies during his corruption case, former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai succeeded in disrupting the trial - but only by a half measure. If Bo had politicized the trial he could've reawakened interest in his neo-Maoist vision and undermined the current leadership. His failure to do so suggests a likely forlorn hope of rehabilitation.
- Francesco Sisci
(Sep 3, '13)
Houses of the holy in China and Moscow
Just like the Led Zeppelin track, the song will remain the same in China after the Bo Xilai trial, as the party does whatever it takes to survive so the next generation of leaders can continue to line their pockets. Like Edward Snowden, Bo betrayed his house. But Bo did so for his own enrichment, Snowden fell for a seemingly noble but hopeless cause. - Jonny Connor
(Sep 3, '13)
Manila, Beijing, and UNCLOS: a test case?
Manila's request for international arbitration over competing territorial claims with Beijing in the South China Sea prompts the question of whether right or might will determine their fate. China's refusal to cooperate also makes it a compelling and deeply Asian test of whether the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or diplomacy will play the lead role in securing a peaceful settlement.
- Alex Calvo
(Sep 3, '13)
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Military roots of racism in Myanmar
Defenders of Islamaphobia unleashed by "Buddhists" in Myanmar, which has manifested in mob violence, say its roots lie in the pace with which new freedoms have taken hold, or in the size of the wealth gaps in the country. The ethno-nationalism of military leaders over the past 50 years is a more likely culprit - as by stoking the flames of race and faith hatred, the regime kept its grasp on power. - Maung Zarni
(Sep 3, '13)
Pet projects put Kim on a slippery slope
A water park North Korea is building near China likely aims at boosting Kim Jong-eun's image among the common people, unlike projects such as a ski resort seemingly devised as a haven for the elites. As few North Koreans are likely to ever take to the water slides or the slopes, such projects will simply bemuse comrades on both sides of the divide. - Joon-ho Kim
(Sep 3, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Obama challenges pathology of power
US President Barack Obama's decision to seek congressional approval before using military force against Syria has been dismissed by his opponents as symptomatic of a lame duck presidency, even "red lines" turning to a "yellow streak". But as he veers from a gun-ho path, he is challenging the pathology of presidential power. - Dallas Darling
(Sep 3, '13)
Populism behind rupee's free fall
Government determination to secure the popular vote rather than address fundamental economic and administrative issues is directly linked to the rupee's present freefall. With the next election in India due next spring, expect little to change.
- Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Sep 3, '13)
SYRIAN CRISIS
Iran can help Obama finesse his legacy
 Of the many lessons inherent in the US countdown to an attack on Syria, the most profound lies elsewhere: Why Syria, not North Korea? The answer is clear. There is no risk of US casualties in a missile strike on Syrian regime forces, and no risk of nuclear retaliation. If Tehran is taking notes, Barack Obama's presidential legacy will be a nuclear Iran.
- M K Bhadrakumar
(Aug 29, '13)
SPENGLER
World learns to cope
without the US
The pipe-dream of an Egyptian democracy led by a Muslim Brotherhood weaned from its wicked past has popped - but official Washington has yet to waken up to the fact or listen to old hands who recognize what is afoot. That leaves other powers - specifically a condominium of Russia, China and Saudi Arabia - to do their best to contain the mess as America blunders on.
(Aug 19, '13) |
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Armenia to join Customs Union
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian says his country will join the Russia-led Customs Union. That has upset his political opponents and could kill Armenia's prospects of closer ties with the European Union.
THE BEAR'S LAIR
More glue in the works
Economic extortion by way of regulation will inevitably bring the economic system close to the point where it ceases to work altogether. Contingency fee lawsuits and outsize settlements further weigh down financial efficiency. Without pruning of this dead weight, US economic growth will become ever more sluggish.
- Martin Hutchinson
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
Weak links
Fragile economic and financial systems have never been as vulnerable to a meaningful tightening of financial conditions. The leveraged speculating community is now a primary weak link and potential transmission mechanism for emerging market disorder to afflict the developed world. Syria is the lesser evil.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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China's Middle East dilemma
Does China view the Syrian question as a challenge or an opportunity? The WSJ estimates in an interesting analysis that Beijing is actually finding itself in a "dilemma." Regime change makes Chinese leaders "nervous" and that has partly got to do with their Manichean fear about the (lack of) "legitimacy" of their own political system; the turmoil in the Middle East underlines the "reality" that the US is the lone superpower.
- M K Bhadrakumar
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