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COMMENT China's feet of clay The Qin Emperor who built the Great Wall and pottery army to keep out barbarians turned in his tomb when China gave Russia vast tracts of disputed land. - Li YongYan Beijing hands Moscow a long rope Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin left China with a huge swath of territory, China's endorsement of Moscow's World Trade Organization membership, a handful of economic deals - and he did not yield an inch on the oil pipeline China so eagerly wants. But Beijing takes the long view and figures that, in 20 years, it will be the winner. - Yiwei Wang Cementing Russia's Central Asian clout Moscow's advances have met with notable success recently. Not only is Russia now formally a member of a purely Central Asian organization, but the Kremlin has managed to secure an unprecedented deal which grants Russia strategically located military facilities in Tajikistan. - Sergei Blagov    Energized Caspian capers THE ROVING EYE Zarqawi and al-Qaeda, unlikely bedfellows Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's reported swearing of his jihadi group's allegiance to al-Qaeda is mystifying. The al-Qaeda nucleus is a mix of hardcore Saudi Wahhabis and the Egyptians of Islamic Jihad. Zarqawi's group contains Jordanians, Palestinians and Syrians, and they are Salafis, Islamic purists. True or false, though, the effects will be felt in Fallujah. - Pepe Escobar Iraqi forces short on security A key part of the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq is to hand over security functions to Iraqis. Despite bold claims, though, the nascent military is woefully undermanned and undertrained, while planned civil intervention forces and emergency response units have barely gotten off the ground. - David Isenberg    London on the spot over deployment TERROR ON THE HIGH SEAS PART 2: Tides of terror lap Southeast Asia Terrorists mimic successful tactics employed by other terrorists. So as the crackdown on land-based terror cells intensifies, terrorist groups may follow others such as the Abu Sayyaf and shift their operations out to sea. Evidence that this is happening is clear already. - Eric Koo The good, the bad, the ugly in Indonesia Incoming legislators in Indonesia have understood last month's election results to be against established parties and for changes in business as usual. There's no evidence, though, that either Indonesia's outgoing or incoming president has gotten the message. - Gary LaMoshi Abdullah's honeymoon is over in Malaysia As Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi prepares to mark his first year in office, his vaunted anti-graft war is again in the spotlight. Despite hopes he would pursue his battle in earnest, his "soft" approach hasn't deterred gambling centers and brothels from doing business down the block from police stations. - Ioannis Gatsiounis More ammunition for Musharraf's foes By reneging on his pledge to choose between the presidency and his army uniform, President General Pervez Musharraf faces, at best, a constitutional crisis. At worst, pressure groups, including officers in the army, opposition political parties and jihadis, will be spurred into action. - Syed Saleem Shahzad SPEAKING FREELY Waiting for the next tsunami America's long-term agenda is not just interested in establishing its vision in the Near East, but in the end is interested in blocking peaceful European ascent to global leadership. As these clashing agendas come up against the worldwide increase of unequal opportunity through globalization, notably in the Muslim world, a catastrophic geopolitical tidal wave could be on the horizon. - Arno Tausch BEST OF BEFORE Nuclear genie let loose Fears of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands persist. And it's not just North Korea and Iran - the possibility of nuclear weapons being used by terrorists is frighteningly high. Clearly there exist the technology and know-how to make nukes anywhere in the world - and deliver them - with little chance of detection. - Mark Erickson (Oct 18, '04) SPENGLER In praise of premature war Rarely has the West suffered by going to war too soon. On the contrary: among the wars of Western history, the bloodiest were those that started too late. The West, therefore, should be thankful that it has in US President George W Bush a warrior who shoots first and tells the CIA to ask questions later. (Oct 18, '04) Rebuff for Iran's reformists Left-leaning intellectual Mir Hoseyn Moussavi, premier during the difficult period of Iran's bloody war with Iraq in the 1980s and a leader who kept prices stable and corruption at a minimum level, seemed the ideal choice as the reformists' presidential candidate. But Moussavi is not interested, leaving the reformists scrambling. - Safa Haeri (Oct 18, '04) SPEAKING FREELY The appeal of fascism Fascism is a disease endemic in the human species, a periodic fever whose tremors induce a psychosocial orgasm in its sufferers. Richard Risemberg believes that fever has infected the US. (Oct 18, '04) Curing what ails India's Hindu hardliners Recent elections in the Indian state of Maharashtra have not only reaffirmed the ruling-Congress Party's revival, but also the decline of Hindu nationalists. If they hope to make a comeback, they would do well to emulate Turkey's Islamist-based ruling party. - K Gajendra Singh (Oct 18, '04) America's losing war on piracy Pirates across the world have proved they can run as well as they can hide, and their loot amounts to 7% of global trade. US intellectual property rights enforcers are working on new ways to smoke them out, a la terrorists. But key to this battle will be forging an alliance of the willing - most nations just don't have the political will to go after the violators. - Alan Boyd (Oct 15, '04) Bush's man for all seasons From a two-bit thug into an overnight international terrorist with a finger in every pie, Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been thrust into the limelight through the many emails, threats, communiques and grisly videos attributed to him, especially in Iraq. The "Zarqawi" myth is certainly bigger than the man. But this suits the Bush administration just fine. - Pepe Escobar (Oct 14, '04) Ominous: The deficit vs the dollar An examination of the financial realities and the implications of the US's ballooning current-account deficit makes it clear that the dollar is going to be overwhelmed. The only question is when. And there is no guarantee that China can help, even if it wanted to. - Jack Crooks (Oct 13, '04) NOTES AND QUOTES Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu say they have shot dead one of India's most wanted men, the infamous bandit known as Veerappan. A Tamil, Veerappan was accused of more than 100 murders - as well as kidnapping, smuggling and poaching - and had been on the run for more than 20 years. "This was an extraordinary intelligence operation ... This was indeed a difficult mission because he was a worthy foe. It was not very easy to get him." - K Vijay Kumar, head of a special police force formed to nab Veerappan Korean 'well-being' for some - not others The Korean economy needs more than President Roh Moo-hyun's "well-being" rhetoric to get back on the rails. More so as its businesses see well-being in lower labor costs and higher profits in neighboring China, while its young professionals seek well-being by emigrating to the West. - David Scofield SPEAKING FREELY India trails China in energy race China has been the hare and India the tortoise in terms of economic development and geopolitical status. As oil prices skyrocket and Asia's energy demand hits the ceiling, China has again taken the lead over India with a more proactive energy policy. - Chietigj Bajpaee Top budget airline beefs up Indonesian fleet With his no-frills AirAsia, Tony Fernandes has revolutionized the way Malaysians travel. Now the budget carrier boss hopes to repeat the magic in Indonesia, whose 220 million people and immense archipelago offer fertile ground. - Bill Guerin Daily Forex Commentary Stocks are turning over, as investors shift more into bonds. And we know how much Mr Greenspan hates it when investors lose their irrational exuberance for stocks. - Jack Crooks Market Indices   Asian Markets Report Business in Brief Economics Infrastructure Banking Energy IT Autos Telecoms Aviation Company Briefs (Advertorial) WSI Internet's Asian franchise expansion soars WSI Internet continues its rapid Asian franchise expansion - amidst record levels of Internet use in Asia-Pacific.  FROM OUR MAILBOX Spengler is ... quite wrong in his assumptions about war's inevitably [In praise of premature war, Oct 19]. But if he is right, then we're doomed. The technology of this era rules out World War I and II scenarios; sooner or later, if Spengler's "let's get it on" reasoning prevails, a real hot war - not the invasion of a cream-puff like Iraq, Afghanistan or Grenada - will occur. Dan Bednarz, PhD University of Pittsburgh Go to the Letters page WEEKEND CARTOON byGavin Coates See Gavin's page for more. A 7-part ATol exclusive (Jul  '04) THE WORLD AT NIGHT