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US storms troops into the Philippines
About
3,000 United States Marines are due to arrive in the Philippines for training and
humanitarian missions in the wake of recent floods there. That's the official
line, anyway. With extremists having recently killed two US soldiers on
war-torn Sulu island, the marines might have another mission in mind. - Al
Labita (Oct 2, '09)
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October surprise in US-Iran
relations
The meeting on Thursday between Iran and the six countries dealing with its
nuclear case resulted in agreement for a follow-up encounter, in itself an
important development, given the heated atmosphere in the lead-up to the talks.
As significant, the United States and Iran made an initial direct contact,
raising hopes of a real breakthrough. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Oct 2, '09)
The secret of the CCP's success
Aware of the need to "adapt or die", successive leaders of the Chinese
Communist Party have gradually molded it to fit the changing needs of the
people while maintaining an iron grasp on rule. This is evident in the shift of
the core party membership from the peasantry to the rising middle class. - Justin
Vela (Oct 2, '09)
India and China profess brotherhood
With flashy ads and eloquent statements, India congratulated China on its 60th
anniversary, with Beijing in turn touting its commitment to India's economic
development. Beneath the surface, however, a number of issues simmer,
particularly border disputes. - Sreeram Chaulia
(Oct 2, '09)
 CHAN
AKYA
One man's terrorist ...
Behind the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka and the
killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud are stories of countries
creating bands of terrorists to do things that were impossible for those in
power to be seen to be doing directly. In this dangerous game, blowback is
inevitable. (Oct 2, '09)
Indonesia a cut above Malaysia
 A
long-running feud between Indonesia and Malaysia over cultural ownership of
traditional dance, music and dress styles has been re-ignited with the former's
batik method of decorating cloth now added to a United Nations heritage list.
Jakarta claims it as a victory, while Malaysians say an Indonesian inferiority
complex is at work. - Sara Schonhardt (Oct 2,
'09)
North Korea reverts to form
After a fleeting period of cordiality, North Korea has slammed the door on
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's vision of a "grand bargain" to resolve
inter-Korean issues and blasted the United States for a policy of
"confrontation" over the North's nuclear program. Diplomats from Seoul and
Washington are doing their best to smile through the gloom. - Donald Kirk
(Oct 2, '09)
 BOOK
REVIEW
Named and shamed
Bailout Nation by Barry Ritholtz with Aaron Task
The United States government has thrown billions of dollars at rescuing
companies and their officers who should have been bankrupted, exposed as
charlatans, in some cases jailed, argues Ritholtz in a compelling and
devastatingly accurate indictment of the financial and political establishment.
- Muhammad Cohen (Oct 2, '09)
China maps an end to the Afghan war
A senior Chinese official has publicly put forward an unusually forthright and
timely view on the Afghanistan conflict, proposing concrete steps to be taken
towards unlocking the stalemate there. This, he argues, is an Afghan issue,
while al-Qaeda is not a big factor. Not the least important: US troops should
go home. - M K Bhadrakumar (Oct 1, '09)
China's military struts its stuff
The military took center stage on Thursday during celebrations to mark the 60th
anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Significantly,
the massive parade in Beijing featured hitherto unseen advanced hardware
developed and made in China. The People's Liberation Army has been equally open
in outlining its ambitious modernization plans to make it the best fighting
force in the world. - Cristian Segura and Wu Zhong
(Oct 1, '09)
The night Zhou was drunk under the table
While out-drinking Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, arguing over literature with Mao
Zedong's wife and sharing turkey with the Gang of Four, a young Westerner in
Beijing at the time of the Cultural Revolution was blissfully unaware of the
Moscow-style purges going on behind the scenes. - Ian Williams
(Oct 1, '09)
A MANUFACTURED CRISIS, Part 3
The case for Iran
 Fiery
rhetoric aside, Iran's leaders are now being cautious, and their military
intentions are defensive. They know all too well how sanctions would cripple
the economy, and the Iranian people have no desire to replicate the horror of
the defensive war they waged against Iraq for most of the 1980s. - Jack A Smith
(Oct 1, '09)
This concludes a three-part report.
PART 1: The
facts of the matter
PART 2: It's
sanctions or bust
China warily watches US-Myanmar detente
Ongoing concern in Bejing over unrest near the China-Myanmar border, which led
to a mass influx of refugees into southern China, has been heightened by
diplomatic overtures by the junta to the United States. China's leaders are
suspicious of any US attempt to counter its influence in the region. - Larry
Jagan (Oct 1, '09)
IMF beats gold-auction drum
International Monetary Fund announcements that it well sell some of its gold
holdings will depress the price and fool some speculators and gold bugs.
Others, less emotional, will keep the metal and see it re-emerge in value, as
it must. - Antal E Fekete (Oct 1, '09)
THE ROVING EYE
It's bomb, bomb, bomb Iran time
Israel, sundry Sunni Arab puppet rulers and dictators, the American right and
the European right, these all fear Iran's regional clout and want to castigate
Tehran in Thursday's nuclear talks. Iran's nuclear dossier - and new
revelations about a second, not-so-secret enrichment plant - could not be a
more convenient cover story for regime change. - Pepe Escobar
(Sep 30, '09)
If Afghanistan is its test, NATO is
failing
As it celebrates its 60th birthday this year, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization is cracking, with its internal politics having become fractious to
the point of dysfunction. What was once billed as the most powerful military
alliance in history will surely outlive its failures in Afghanistan and its
adjustment to new global threats. But it may survive in name alone. - John
Feffer (Sep 30, '09)
 SINOGRAPH
A culture at ease with war
A common perception of China is that over the centuries there was a conflict
between culture and literature on the one side and military affairs on the
other. Similarly, a belief grew that China was unfit for war and an easy
pushover. An exhaustive new book tells another story, showing how the Chinese
are well prepared for opposing armies. - Francesco Sisci
(Sep 30, '09)
Damascus on a familiar road
Marking the first visit by a senior Syrian official since 2003, Deputy Foreign
Minister Faisal Miqdad was in Washington this week for high-level talks.
Damascus certainly wants an end to the sanctions imposed on it, but it has a
bigger goal in mind and one which it has steadfastly pursued - to get back the
Golan Heights. - Sami Moubayed (Sep 30, '09)
Domestic needs shape China's foreign
policy
In the past 60 years, the People's Republic of China has emerged as a serious
global economic and political contender and can now shape an international
status quo that better suits its goal of a multi-polar world. The Communist
Party's desire for a more stable world is aimed at boosting national
development efforts, as this will strengthen its own hold on power. - Tim
Summers (Sep 30, '09)
Islam as politics in Malaysia
 American
pop diva Beyonce will perform in Kuala Lumpur despite a raft of piety-tinged
controversies in recent weeks, including the sharia law sentencing of a woman
to caning for drinking alcohol in public. Issues of political Islam - somewhere
between "Western sexy" on the one hand, and jihadi terror on the other - now
weigh mightily on Malaysia's national discourse. - Simon Roughneen
(Sep 30, '09)
Off with their blinkered heads
The United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth has seen many crises in her 57 years on
the throne, adding some weight, rather than ignorance, to her question of why
nobody noticed the financial crisis coming. "Ideological blinkers" is one short
answer. Failure to heed the great economist of the 21st century is another. - Julian
Delasantellis (Sep 30, '09)
US orchestrates Pakistan-India talks
Officially, the high-level talks between Pakistan and India at the weekend did
not result in any agreement for the resumption of the stalled peace process
between the countries. Behind the scenes, though, with Washington pulling the
strings, the groundwork has already been laid for a process that could see
Islamabad and Delhi settling their differences, especially over Afghanistan. - Syed
Saleem Shahzad (Sep 29, '09)
Obama looks escalation in the eye
President Barack Obama faces a fateful choice over a Pentagon request for an
additional 40,000 American troops for the war in Afghanistan - an increase of
nearly 60%. Much like a turning point in the Vietnam War in 1965, the decision
will be shaped by fears in the military and the White House of being blamed for
defeat. - Gareth Porter (Sep 29, '09)
A new cold war in Kashmir
The Kashmir dispute ranks with Palestine as one of the oldest, most intractable
disputes in the world. That does not mean that it cannot be resolved. Only that
the solution will not be completely to the satisfaction of any one party, one
country, or one ideology. Negotiators will have to be prepared to deviate from
the "party line". - Arundhati Roy (Sep 29,
'09)
US takes a radical turn on
Myanmar
The announcement that the United States intends to engage with Myanmar's
generals is a stunning change of tack towards the "outpost of tyranny". Critics
question the sense of dialogue with a reportedly rights-abusing narco-state,
but the US State Department says it was the generals who sought the contact. - Brian
McCartan (Sep 29, '09)
Then Marx came tumbling down ...
Officials in Moscow want a giant 
statue of Karl Marx removed from the city center, arguing he is a bad
ideological influence, and he never visited Moscow anyway. At the heart of the
issue is a deep-seated feeling of fragility, not so much of the social-economic
order, of the peculiar Russian brand of capitalism, but of the state itself. - Dmitry
Shlapentokh (Sep 29, '09)
Medvedev jumps the gun on Iran
Amid the fuss over revelations of a "secret" Iranian nuclear enrichment
facility, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has veered sharply to the side of
those seeking tougher action against Tehran. He may well have been premature,
and Moscow will now have some dexterous backtracking to do. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Sep 28, '09)
Missile madness targets the money
President Barack Obama's decision to shelve plans for an anti-missile defense
system in the Czech Republic and Poland continues a decades-long, military and
political debate frequently set in terms little more sophisticated than "mine
is bigger than yours". None of it is real, except the money, which is very real
and very huge. - Julian Delasantellis (Sep
25, '09)
THE MOGAMBO GURU
Sweet spots
Economic policymakers plan to leave emergency stimuluses in place as the global
economy pulls out of recession, creating a "sweet spot" for financial markets,
as if they weren't sweet enough already. That means the US Federal Reserve will
continue its unholy mission to wreck the value of the US dollar - which also
means an ever sweeter spot for gold!!! (Sep 23, '09)
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David P
Goldman
(Sep 30, '09)
The Red Bull high of government spending won't last long.
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THE ROVING EYE
Jumpin'
Jack Verdi,
it's a gas, gas, gas
Washington wants reluctant Europeans to wean themselves off Russian gas and do
more to protect Pipelineistan - that network of real and virtual routes
intended to channel from the planet's most fractured political landscape the
lifeblood of the world's richest industrial area. It's a new great game, and
it's still the Cold War. It's pure opera, on a grand, grand scale. - Pepe
Escobar
Confusion is currency of the day
The prospect of Japan's new government inducing domestic growth is the only
factor behind the yen's recent strength, and if market forces play out, it may
strengthen further, despite the country's downward economic spiral.
Policymakers in Tokyo will do their best to keep everyone confused, including
themselves. - Axel Merk
Domain chains fall away
The range of Internet domain names is set to surge with the loss of United
States control over the process. That's great for freedom lovers, not so good
for companies seeking to protect their brand names.
Martin J Young surveys the week's developments in computing, science,
gaming and gizmos.
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FROM THE BLOG
Save, save, save
The problem is that Americans have not yet begun to save, yet the largest
retirement wave in the country's history is underway. The savings rate should
rise markedly, not least given the shock to wealth during the past year. And
for now, the increase must come out of spending. - David Goldman
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
From bear to bear
No analyst wishes to be associated with the term "permabear". Yet with no sign
of monetary discipline, with economies awash with trillions of unsustainable
and unconstructive government credit, and the prospect of worse credit
dislocation ahead, the "bear" label must stay for some time yet.
(Sep 28, '09)
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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Re China's eye on
African agriculture
"[W]hen the West (primarily the US) approaches other countries on trade, the
emphasis is on 'free' trade, when China come to the trade table the emphasis
shifts to 'fair' trade. You article doesn't malign China on trade practice, but
it promote the double standards: the West is entitled to free trade, but China
is expected to balance self-interest with the welfare of the trade partners.
..." - ding73ding
"China is the new kid on the block. It also tries to claim the moral high
ground by posturing about being 'opposed to neo-colonialism' etc. No double
standard here, DD! Just applying China's own (proclaimed) standards to the
situation." - MonsoonWind
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From Our Mailbox
[Re China maps an
end to the Afghan war, October 1] United States policy makers ... are
not necessarily influenced by changing public opinion against the war in
Afghanistan, but more by the ghosts of waste and defeat in Vietnam.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam
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to Letters to the Editor |
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ATol Specials
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By Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jan '09) |
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VIDEO
Taliban's new breed of leader
(May '08) |
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The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
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The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
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A series
by Henry C K Liu
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
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Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
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By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
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