The end of stability in the Arab world
As the Arab world reinvents itself in real time, the rest of the world must begin to understand the region as something more than a source for oil and a market for armaments and consumer goods.
As the Arab world reinvents itself in real time, the rest of the world must begin to understand the region as something more than a source for oil and a market for armaments and consumer goods.
As soon as something happens in any country, a clamour begins in all the other capitals. Governments are importuned to do or say something. Does saying and doing nothing alter the dynamic of a movement, slow it down or derail it? Are the demands articulated feasible for a government to accept and implement?
In the last few months, South Asia has gone from being just a global security headache, to a region with new possibilities. Teresita C. Schaffer, former US ambassador to Sri Lanka, and Howard Schaffer, former US ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh, discuss the major challenges that confront the US in South Asia.
There are more than Western interests at play in Egypt. The other catalysts for the unrest are a combination of Iranian adventures, hypocritical policies of West Asian regimes and resurgent commodity speculation in western markets, triggering a rise in prices of basic items in emerging markets
The mass uprising consuming Egypt shows a country on the sidelines of the economic development that has been sweeping the world from Brazil to China to Vietnam.
As the massive anti-regime protests in Egypt persist, the future of President Hosni Mubarak seems increasingly uncertain. The world waits with bated breath as the situation in the largest Arab nation unfolds –the outcome of which will determine what happens in the region.
The Afghan students at Pune University discuss their personal histories as well as their perceptions on what Afghanistan as a country means to them.
Excerpts from “Lost Wishes”, a diary by Azima Nabi, an Afghan lady.
A week after Salman Taseer's murder, US Vice President Joseph Biden flew to Pakistan to "gauge priorities" in the Af-Pak region. India, Ambassador Neelam Deo says, must not allow itself to become a victim of American imperatives and Pakistani maneuvers.
The murder of Salman Taseer , the liberal-minded Governor of Pakistani Punjab, augurs grimly for the country. With the government mired in political turmoil, intelligentsia silenced and religious extremists integrating with the security forces, Pakistan is a state teetering on the brink of collapse.