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Israel up in arms over weapons seizure
Israel has spared no effort in bringing the world's attention to its seizure of
a ship carrying tonnes of apparently Iranian-supplied weapons bound for Hezbollah
in Lebanon, via Egypt and Syria. If history is any guide, the incident could be
used as a pretext for waging another war on Hezbollah, or even a strike against
Iran. - Sami Moubayed (Nov 6, '09)
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US gives Myanmar a tentative
embrace
This week's landmark visit by senior United States officials to Myanmar
featured meetings with military leaders, pro-democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi
and ethnic groups, but none led to any diplomatic breakthrough. Critics claim
Washington's engagement gambit, far from being aimed at achieving stability in
Myanmar, is more designed to counter China's overtures to Southeast Asia. - Brian
McCartan (Nov 6, '09)
UNDER THE AFPAK VOLCANO, Part 2
Breaking up is (not) hard to do
The Pentagon well knows that AfPak is the key land bridge between Iran to the
west and China and India to the east; and that Iran has all the energy that
both China and India need. The balkanization of AfPak would neutralize China's
drive for land access from Xinjiang across Pakistan to the Arabian Sea, via the
port of Gwadar in Balochistan province. - Pepe Escobar
(Nov 6, '09)
This is the concluding article in a two-part report.
 PART 1:
Welcome to Pashtunistan
Corruption bomb explodes in
Indonesia
Allegations in a wiretapped conversation involving businessman Anggodo Widjojo,
police and prosecutors, in which they appeared to plot against Indonesia's top
anti-graft body, have also mentioned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The
shadow over Yudhoyono's hitherto squeaky clean image is darkened by his seeming
indecisiveness in the complex case. - Patrick Guntensperger
(Nov 6, '09)
Facebook people power
In an echo of the protests that demanded the ouster of dictator Suharto more
than a decade ago, Indonesians this month put pressure on President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono over the arrest of two anti-corruption commissioners,
subsequently released. This time around, though, the networking site Facebook
rather than the streets was the place to protest. - Sara Schonhardt
(Nov 6, '09)
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Passing the buck on North Korea
Bilateral talks scheduled between Stephen Bosworth, the United States point man
on North Korea, and the leadership in Pyongyang - purportedly over coaxing the
North back into six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program - may just be a
smokescreen to force China back into action. Even if Bosworth's mission is
fruitless, Beijing could no longer accuse the US of not showing its hand. - Donald
Kirk (Nov 6, '09)
Tennis diplomacy on the table in
Bali
If the Mohammedans won't come to the mountain, then the mountain - or at least
a stone from it - can come to the Mohammedans - or their closest neighboring
compatriots. The visit of a female Israeli tennis player to Bali, a resort
island of Muslim-majority Indonesia, has echoes of the sports diplomacy trail
famously blazed by American and Chinese ping-pong players. - Muhammad Cohen
(Nov 6, '09)
BOOK REVIEW
China according to the Chinese
The Origin, Process, and Outcome of China's Reforms in the Past One Hundred Years
by Enbao Wang
Much of the English-language discourse on China's unpredicted rise is divided
between those who are fascinated and those who are frightened. The author makes
a useful attempt to bridge a growing gap between what has happened in China in
the past 30 years on the one hand, and persistent Western cultural-political
solipsism on the other. - Yu Bin (Nov 6, '09)
US puts its faith in Pakistan's
military
A deal hatched between the Pakistani military and United States Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton cleared the path for Hamid Karzai to be re-elected for a
second term as Afghanistan's president. With Karzai's challenger, Abdullah
Abdullah, now out of the picture, Pakistan's military will actively mediate
between Washington and the Taliban. Along with Abdullah, the big loser is
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Nov 5, '09)
Iran looks to Argentina for nuclear
fuel
Iran hopes to revive nuclear ties with Argentina that have been stalled since
Tehran was accused of involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in
Buenos Aires. Suspicious of a United Nations-backed proposal that its uranium
be processed in France, Iran prefers the Argentina option as it would shut out
Europe and see the United States become a more central player. - Kaveh L
Afrasiabi (Nov 5, '09)
Is Obama's Iran policy doomed?
China has a massive investment in Iranian energy and is willing to supply
gasoline to that country in the face of United States threats of sanctions. The
attitude of China - and Russia - towards Tehran's nuclear plans also varies
radically from Washington's. In the face of this, US President Barack Obama's
current Iran policy is unlikely to work. - Dilip Hiro
(Nov 5, '09)
India on brink of Maoist offensive
More than 70,000 paramilitary troops are poised to begin Operation Green Hunt,
a massive offensive against Maoist rebels in India's northeast "Red Corridor",
should a final appeal to the Maoists to sit down with the government for talks
fail. - Ranjit Devraj (Nov 5, '09)
INTERVIEW
Uyghur activist seeks talks with Beijing
An avowed critic of China's ethnic policy in the Xinjiang region, Uyghur
activist Rebiya Kadeer says Beijing is guilty of persecuting dissidents from
her minority, as well as of an economic bias in favor of the Han majority.
Rejecting claims she is a terrorist and organized deadly riots, Kadeer wants
dialogue with Beijing. - Catherine Makino (Nov
5, '09)
China's sleepy Hengqin wakes up
A relatively undeveloped corner of the Pearl River Delta immediately west of
Macau is being lined up for an extensive makeover. Hengqin island, part of the
mainland city of Zhuhai, is to be transformed into a resort paradise featuring
golf courses and theme parks. In the process, Macau and Hong Kong will be more
intimately integrated into the mainland delta, tricky legal relationships
permitting. - Kent Ewing (Nov 5, '09)
Empty boasts of glory
Celebrations of the much-welcomed emergence of the United States economy from
recession are premature, given that the only force driving this apparent
recovery is increased government spending. The performances of Australia, New
Zealand, China and India stand in marked contrast. - John Browne
(Nov 5, '09)
Russia, India and China go their
ways
Despite its best efforts, Russia failed at a recent trilateral summit to get
India and China to agree to a common regional initiative regarding Afghanistan.
This failure ensures that the United States can now press ahead with its own
strategy of striking grand bargains individually with these key players. - M K
Bhadrakumar (Nov 4, '09)
US frets over Tokyo drift
The United States-Japan alliance remains a cornerstone of US security in the
Pacific, but Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's pledges to create more
independence for Japan and a viable East Asian community have led to
uncertainty in Washington. Domestically, Hatoyama faces a delicate balancing
act as he attempts to satisfy the demands of the public, pacifist coalition
members, and an ever-more assertive Japanese military. - Peter J Brown
(Nov 4, '09)
Who will be the last frog in the well?
After centuries of Sinocentrism behind the Great Wall and secretive imperial
politics within the Forbidden City, China's opening up and thirst for a greater
understanding of the foreign world has sparked a global Chinese renaissance in
engineering, computing and the classical arts. Should the West not try and
dispel its suspicions over this model of modernization, it runs a real risk of
being left behind. - David Gosset (Nov 4,
'09)
Obama's world outreach teetering
Just months after well-received speeches in Turkey and Egypt, setbacks from
Afghanistan to the West Bank to Pakistan, Iraq and Iran have seen belief plunge
in the Muslim world over United States President Barack Obama and his plans for
progress. With this, anti-US sentiment is back on the rise. - Jim Lobe
(Nov 4, '09)
Little Laos relishes its big
moment
 For
the first time, Laos will host the Southeast Asian Games, with the 25th edition
of the 11-country sporting fest taking place next month. The tiny landlocked
country has had to rely on massive foreign aid - notably from China - to stage
the event, arousing considerable scorn in some circles. Yet, the enduring theme
of Laos' history has been its engagement with and dependence on foreign powers.
For Laos, this is a glorious coming-out for the one-party state. - Simon Creak
(Nov 4, '09)
Iraqis divide ahead of elections
Any hopes that sectarianism was on the way out in Iraq died with the massive
August 19 and October 25 terror attacks in Baghdad. Sects and communities are
once again divided, and the coalitions that have been formed to contest
January's elections are a clear reflection of these poisoned waters. - Sami
Moubayed (Nov 4, '09)
China's Three Gorges Dam comes of age
Fifteen years since work began and at a cost of between US$8 billion to $27
billion, the water level in the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam on the
Yangtze River will soon reach its final height of 175 meters. Officials,
though, aren't celebrating too loudly: as China searches for new forms of
renewable energy, the dam has become a monument to obsolete ambitions.
(Nov 3, '09)
THE BEAR'S LAIR
Bernanke learns from the wrong
crash
United States Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, noted as a specialist on
the 1929 market crash and the Great Depression, would be better off looking at
other financial disasters over the centuries for lessons more pertinent to the
present crisis. - Martin Hutchinson (Nov 3,
'09)
US goofs the Afghan election
Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal from a runoff that he had
scant chance of winning ends what had become a mere sideshow to more
significant events unfolding in Kabul. President Hamid Karzai can now firmly
take center stage. He has turned the tables on Western powers that would have
seen him vilified and overthrown, and, if the rift worsens, he could yet blow
the lid on an explosive issue: the role of foreign troops in the narcotics
trade. - M K Bhadrakumar (Nov 2, '09)
Al-Qaeda has plans for its new
recruit
With the recent appointment of Ilyas Kashmiri as head of its military
committee, al-Qaeda has recruited a veteran who learned his trade on the
battlefields of Afghanistan and during the insurgency against India in disputed
Kashmir. Ilyas also took with him his elite 313 Brigade, which al-Qaeda claims
it now wants to unleash. A foiled plot in Denmark could be a prelude. - Syed
Saleem Shahzad (Nov 2, '09)
 SPENGLER
The idiot twins of
American idealism
It is mad to believe, as the George W Bush administration did, that the United
States can remake the world in its own image. It is even madder to turn foreign
policy into an affirmative action program for disadvantaged or dying cultures.
In such lean times, Washington's "realists" do not seem focused on what should
be a core interest, fostering viable partners for the future and jettisoning
those that are beyond viability. - Spengler (Nov
2, '09)
Chinese general enters US military core
Ahead of United States President Barack Obama's first official visit to
Beijing, China's second-highest officer became the first People's Liberation
Army member to visit US Strategic Command headquarters. Both sides are sending
the right signals in pursuit of strengthening military-to-military ties;
beneath the surface, improved relations do not appear an urgent priority. - Peter
J Brown (Nov 2, '09)
AN ATOL INVESTIGATION
Deep inside Indonesia's kill
zone
 Indonesia's
Detachment 88 counter-terrorism teams are seen by some critics as too willing
to kill suspects and so do away with the need for long trials of suspected
jihadis. Yet the training of these crisis response teams, and their weaponry,
is in many ways inadequate for confronting at close quarters suicidal and
well-armed opponents. - John McBeth (Oct 30,
'09)
SINOGRAPH
China no longer
a law unto itself
China and the West, in particular ancient Rome and Greece, followed markedly
different routes on the way to developing the legal systems in use today. The
West was notably influenced by the needs of merchants and the market place for
equitable regulation, while China saw this as a threat to central power. As
China steps onto the international stage, it will have to reconcile such
differences. - Francesco Sisci (Oct 22, '09)
 SUN
WUKONG
Insurers denied run of property
The Chinese government's decision to allow insurance companies to invest some
of their near US$500 billion in holdings directly in real estate has property
developers keenly anticipating a new inflow of cash. Yet the red tape with
which Beijing is tying up the reform should be sufficient to ensure no quick
bucks - or sharp losses - for anyone. - Wu Zhong
(Oct 26, '09)
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David P
Goldman
(Nov 4, '09)
.. a consulting economist has to get attention ... Nouriel Roubini's
attention-getting ... is getting tiresome
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 CHAN
AKYA
Leverage
not level
The picture is familiar - higher oil prices, a lower US dollar, and rising US
stocks. Missing from the picture is the leverage taken in China and related to
monetary expansion there - and what happens once that expansion is removed.
MARKET RAP
Appearances can be deceiving
A volatile week saw exchanges trimming their losses, but absent an upbeat
Shanghai and a downbeat Tokyo the period is best described as nondescript, with
no clear engine to drive markets stronger in the immediate future.
R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.
Apple not so sweet in China
Not quite the end of the world for Apple, but the introduction of the iPhone to
China turned sour for the United States-based company and its mainland partner,
China Unicom, with initial sales falling well short of forecasts. Doomsday,
however, may be closer for the rest of the world, with the restart of Europe's
Large Hadron Collider.
Martin J Young surveys the week's developments in computing, science,
gaming and gizmos.
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FROM THE BLOG
Evidence lacking
Contrary to academic economist Nouriel Roubini's claims of a thriving US dollar
carry trade, there is NO evidence that the world is borrowing money to buy
equities. American assets have gotten cheaper. - David Goldman
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
The newest abnormal
It's as if there's a contest to coin a catchy phrase that will gain popular
acceptance - and persuade the public that everything in the garden is rosy, or
at least heading that way. Now we have the "new normal" - a misnomer for what
is, in fact, the "new abnormal" of unrelenting monetary disorder.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
(Nov 2, '09)
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"What is interesting is that US media resembles 'camps' - you watch Rupert
Murdoch's stuff if you lean right, while much of the rest leans outright left.
So the only way to secure a balanced opinion is to average the views across the
channels. Not sensible at all. ... There is a very interesting sociological
experiment going on in the US media, from what I as an outsider can see, just
not sure that its worth examining all by itself. ..." - Chan Akya
"Good luck trying to examine the process without getting caught up in the
content. Have not watched mainstream TV news for 20 years or so, and don't feel
like I'm missing anything. Its entertainment, a kind of gong show suitable for
those who are addicted to TV. ..." - Michael
"... America, your mainstream news media have been hijacked by people who seek
to influence you, not inform you. ..." - aquicke
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From Our Mailbox
[Re Uyghur activist
seeks talks with Beijing, November 5] All things considered, the
Chinese Communist Party is not exactly pure and righteous when running China,
but Beijing actually works and cooperates with Uyghurs in governing Xinjiang
province and promotes the idea of a Harmonious Society.
Hank
Australia
Yesterday's tragedy at the Fort Hood army base here in Texas once again
underscores the folly of American militarism and imperial adventures.
Hardy Campbell
Houston, TX
USA
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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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