|
|
 |
War footing on Thai-Cambodian border
Royal Thai Army planners have prepared new defense plans against potential
attacks from Cambodia, a move that threatens to rekindle tensions along the two
countries' contested border. It could be perceived as provocative given the
lack of any realistic threat. It also seems to contradict the policy of the
Yingluck Shinawatra administration in Bangkok.
- John Cole and Steve Sciacchitano (Sep
21, '12)
|
Benghazi, Beijing show limits of
power
Violent protests in the Middle East, particularly in Benghazi, were a nasty
reminder that liberation from dictatorship does mean unfettered affection for
the "liberators". Anti-Japanese demonstrations in China may be more instructive
in how the madness of mobs can be a tool for a government's foreign policy
goals. One thing is certain, these were not a pathetic charade. They were dead
serious - and successful.
- Peter Lee (Sep 21, '12)
Taliban outflanks US war strategy
The Taliban appear to have achieved a strategic coup with the US-NATO decision
to halt joint operations with Afghan security forces amid the rising toll of
deaths caused by locals turning on their foreign mentors. Though the killings
are not strictly a product of Taliban infiltration, the fear and mistrust the
deaths have sown may embolden the militants.
- Gareth Porter and Shah Noori (Sep
21, '12)
The mystery of the Syria contact
group
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's contact group on Syria is woven from an
itchy mix of countries - and hangs on a curious thread. The Egyptians, Iranians
and Turks are enthusiastic players in finding a regional solution to the
crisis, but not so Saudi Arabia. The kingdom could yet see the bloodletting in
Syria as a tourniquet for its own internal hemorrhaging.
- Vijay Prashad (Sep 21, '12)
INTERVIEW
On Syria and way beyond
In a wide-ranging interview, Middle East expert Guenter Meyer explores the
numerous dimensions of the Syrian civil war and its implications - economic and
geostrategic - for other countries in the region. As the death tally mounts,
the ultimate beneficiaries so far, he concludes, are the United States and
Israel.
- Lars Schall (Sep 21, '12)
|
Kim Jong-eun prepares balancing act
Korean leader Kim Jong-eun was bequeathed a poor hand of cards - including
rotten hard and soft infrastructure, corrupt government, and a bloated military
- against which reforms to be announced next month will struggle to make
progress. Yet Kim recognizes the need for change and that if you can't be a
Deng Xiaoping, it's better to be a Gorbachev than a Gaddafi.
- Chris Green and Sokeel Park (Sep 21,
'12)
 FILM
REVIEW
America's futuristic DNA with a Chinese
twist
Looper directed by
Rian Johnson
Thirty years from now, China is a utopia, a refuge from barren, dystopian
America. But escape is complicated by the invention, and outlawing, of time
travel. Hit-men work to close the loops created by time-travel anomalies, yet
themselves are vulnerable to self-doubt - and romantic love. This film plays on
the deep anxieties related to the demographic and cultural shifts taking place
in today's America, demographically and culturally. - Dinesh Sharma
(Sep 21, '12)
SPEAKING FREELY
Existential threats and wars of
choice
The forces assembling to assault Iran are not doing so because of some
existential threat posed by that country, but are engaged in an exercise in
great power aggression. Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia believe that
overthrowing the ayatollahs, will benefit their individually different
interests. If the past is a guide they may be successful, at least in the short
run. - Alan G Jamieson (Sep 21, '12)
 To submit to
Speaking Freely click
here
|
Iran makes a move, oil slides
 The
players behind this week's sharp tumble in oil prices remains a mystery. The
trigger for the sell-off less so - that is, the willingness of Catherine
Ashton, lead negotiator in talks with Tehran over its nuclear policy, literally
to step over the Iranian diplomatic threshold implies a deal in the offing that
could slash US pump prices before Barack Obama's last re-election drive.
Insider dealing? Of course not. - Chris Cook (Sep
20, '12)
India's politics rule - economy be
damned
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's negative reaction to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's go-ahead for overseas interests to pour funds into India's
retail and aviation sectors is only too typical of how self-serving politicking
has pushed aside rational economics in the tussle for popular support before
the next general election.
- Swati Lodh Kundu (Sep 20, '12)
Malaysian role vexes Thai
conflict
Recent and highly symbolic raising of Malaysian flags across Thailand's
southernmost provinces highlights the porosity of the border for insurgents and
serves as a stark reminder that Malaysia needs to play a significant role to
end unprecedented violence there. The incidents also show the insurgency is
more coordinated than many would like to believe.
- Jason Johnson (Sep 20, '12)
 SINOGRAPH
False targets and
the rise of fascism
In post-Habsburg Europe, a disputed decision sparked first a minor skirmish,
and then the rise of fascism. Today, Mao-shirt-clad mobs in China disturbingly
mirror the black and brown shirts of fascist Italy and Germany. The louder the
Chinese nationalists become, the more they strengthen Japanese nationalists.
But the unelected Chinese leadership lacks the legitimacy to quell this
21st-century rise of fascism. - Francesco Sisci
(Sep 20, '12)
Nothing new under North Korean son
A fanfare of little else but speculation is building expectations that North
Korea will announce reforms next week. Hopes now surrounding new leader Kim
Jong-eun and the optimism of the early years of his father's rule bear
comparison, and show that North Korea has been in a perpetual state of reform
since.
- Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein (Sep 20, '12)
North Korea: What's next is off the
plan
North Korea's transition of power following Kim Jong-Il's death appears to have
gone smoothly, prompting enthusiasm over the potential for meaningful economic
reform. Wiser heads recognize that only the immediate, planned-for, crisis has
passed. What comes next lacks such planning. Here lies the risk.
- Jeffrey Robertson (Sep 20, '12)
|
COMMENT
Shout 'No!' to war with Iran
Americans were coerced into war with Iraq by the myth of a mushroom cloud and
with Afghanistan through the notion of eliminating terrorists. War with Iran
using yet another manufactured reason should be spurned to avoid sparking
deadly blowback. It starts with shouting "No!".
- Adil E Shamoo (Sep 20, '12)
Bishkek hands Putin Kyrgyz
independence
Russian President Vladimir Putin, due in Kyrgyzstan today, can look forward to
securing agreements on building dams and canceling debt owed by his hosts while
extending the rights to run military bases in the country. Bishkek will praise
such "successes", refusing to recognize that it is abandoning Kyrgyz
independence. - Fozil Mashrab (Sep 20, '12)
China loves a crisis
The eurozone crisis has coincided with a huge increase in Chinese investment in
Europe. Counter-intuitive perhaps, but good sense to Chinese companies in a
number of ways, and welcomed by struggling European businesses. - Benjamin A
Shobert (Sep 20, '12)
 THE
ROVING EYE
USS Romney goes Titanic
Barack Obama has deployed a secret weapon to clinch his re-election to the
White House - Mitt Romney. Unlike the aircraft carriers parked in and around
the Persian Gulf, this ship of misstate keeps colliding with icebergs, most
recently the "47% solution". Facing unemployment after the November poll,
Romney might look for a career in film; the emir of Qatar may be casting for
someone if Leonardo DiCaprio isn't available. - Pepe Escobar
(Sep 19, '12)
 SPENGLER
All-out Middle East war
is as good as it gets
The prospect of a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran fills the United States'
foreign policy establishment with practically unanimous horror - unreasonably
so. The spillover effects would be considerable, and bloody for numerous
countries. Yet there is no reason to expect most of the region's countries to
go quietly into irreversible decline. All-out regional war is the likely
outcome sooner or later. We might as well get on with it.
(Sep 17, '12)
|
|
|
Ratan Tata
powers down
The two-decade reign of Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, now coming to a close,
has been a microcosm of Indian industry's failure to make a mark in the world.
He had the power to create an Indian Mercedes or Rolls; instead, what do we
have? The Nano. - Raja Murthy
Chinese go nuclear
at
home and abroad
As the global nuclear power industry tries to recover from the 2011 Fukushima
nuclear disaster, Chinese companies are notably becoming more active at home
and abroad. One key test case will be the promised "nuclear renaissance" in the
United Kingdom, with speculation that Chinese investors are keen to be
involved. - Antony Froggatt and Joy Tuffield
Google plays global censor
Google took the opportunity of anti-US protests sparked by a video deemed
insulting to Islam to underline its role as a global arbiter of what folk can
see or say on the Internet. Of its own accord, it blocked access to the video
in certain countries - but not others.
Martin J Young surveys the week's developments in computing, science,
gaming and gizmos.
|
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
QE forever
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has no justification for taking his
latest extreme risks with financial stability through further quantitative
easing. The Fed has now grossly overstepped its role, taking a giant leap from
radical to virtual rogue central banking.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
|
|
TONY ALLISON (1953-2012)
Asia Times Online's Editor-in-Chief Anthony Allison died on June 20 after a
short illness. We extend our sympathy to Tony's family for their tragic and
premature loss.
Obituary
Tributes
|
The
Alawites too have a story
There is a magnificent expression Lawrence Durrell uses in his classic
autobiographical work Bitter Lemons, to refer to the troubled times in the
early 1950s when Cyprus lost its innocence and began unraveling... - M K
Bhadrakumar
|
|
[Re Obama rethinks
the Arab Spring, September 18] Perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu thinks, by his incessant focusing on Iran, he will not have to focus
on the thorny problem of achieving a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Fariborz
S Fatemi
United States
|
|
Go to Letters to the Editor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this website is
copyright and may not be republished in any form without written permission.
Copyright 1999 - 2012 Asia Times Online (Holdings),
Ltd.
|
|
Head Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li
Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East, Central, Hong Kong
Thailand Bureau: 11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua
Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
