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Manmohan's smile masks Indian woes
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's rare relaxed manner at the Pittsburgh
Group of 20 summit reflected well his own and India's growing international
stature. At home, there is less to cheer, with vital mega-buck industrial
projects bogged down amid opposition from marginalized citizens and Maoist
militants. - Santwana Bhattacharya (Oct 5,
'09)
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New doubt on US's Iran plant claim
Washington's charge that construction on Iran's second uranium-enrichment
facility is part of a covert decision to violate its International Atomic
Energy obligations is being questioned. Further analysis of satellite photos of
the site suggests Iran is not in the wrong. - Gareth Porter
(Oct 5, '09)
Seeds of change in Iraqi Kurdistan
Leaders from Iraqi Kurdistan's upstart political opposition, the Movement for
Change, say the party's departure from traditional clan-based politics led to
its unprecedented success at recent regional elections. The group is part of an
unexpected democratic progress that has forced Turkey, Iran and Syria into a
strategic rethink. - Derek Henry Flood (Oct
5, '09)
Iraq's Maliki gathers his forces
Hard on the heels of the formation of a new Iraqi party comprising Shi'ite
heavyweights to contest January's elections, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has
unveiled his own new coalition, which he touts as cross-confessional and
secular. This it might be, but it comprises mostly political lightweights. - Sami
Moubayed (Oct 5, '09) |
Trial and tribulations in
Cambodia
As the first case at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal, of notorious torture
chief Kaing Guek Eav, comes to a close, the court's future remains in doubt
over nagging allegations of political interference, corruption and fears that
elderly defendants will die before facing justice. - Jared Ferrie
(Oct 5, '09)
Uyghurs face an education dilemma
The Uyghur ethnic group in China's Xinjiang province says the education system
traps their children between minority and mainstream culture. Chinese-language
schooling may offer better job prospects, while only minority schools teach
traditional language, history and culture. - Paloma Robles
(Oct 5, '09)
Sex and security in Afghanistan
Apart from rollicking romps at the United States Embassy in Kabul, allegations
have emerged of private security contractors in Afghanistan frequenting
brothels notorious for housing trafficked women. - David Isenberg
(Oct 5, '09)
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)
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)
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)
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 (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)
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)
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)
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)
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David P
Goldman
(Oct 2, '09)
...never before has the US stock market traded as if it were [in] a
banana-republic.
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 SPENGLER
Obama's
permanent depression
The toxic cocktail of fiscal stimulus combined with near-zero interest rates in
the United States allows financial institutions to profit while further
depressing the productive economy. The resulting deteriorating jobs market is
now instilling panic in Barack Obama's White House. The parallels with Japan in
1989 are uncanny. Japan, though, had one advantage: it knew how to export. - Spengler
CHAN
AKYA
Double or quits
As the employment picture in the United States grows ever more bleak, Keynesian
economists are producing their standard calls to government - spend more, and
the good times will come. This after seeing vast amounts already poured into
rescuing the economy come to little effect. It is the cry of despair of a
failing gambler.
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
No way to fix a collapse
Credit bubbles are fundamentally about a confluence of undisciplined behavior,
from monetary system management, through lending and investment, to spending
throughout the economy. The consequences of increasingly bold policy activism
include a more unbalanced economic structure, as witnessed today.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
FROM THE BLOG
Basket-case stocks
The US stock market is repricing to a basket of alternatives to the dollar.
That doesn't spell the end of the US dollar as a reserve currency - for now.
But keep it up, and the world will eventually find a substitute for the dollar.
- David Goldman
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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
Thank you for the excellent article by Kaveh L Afrasiabi,
October Surprise in US-Iran relations [October 2]. I agree with his
superb analysis that the revelation about a second uranium- enrichment facility
has improved Iran's "negotiation posture" rather than weakened it.
Tim
Toronto
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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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