Courtesy: TheU.S.Army/Flickr
The 10-year old war in Afghanistan has reached a hazy stage as the U.S. announced a quicker withdrawal of troops, with NATO countries soon to follow. The South Asian region will undergo another makeover, hopefully opening doors for New Delhi and Islamabad.
Courtesy: JonathanRashad/Flickr
As the Arab world remains engulfed in protests, there may be lessons to be learned from other recent democratic converts. Latin America’s growth story may provide the Arab world with some recommendations on how to address socio-economic issues in the post-revolution scenario.
Courtesy: PMO
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Kazakh President Nazarbayev to strengthen ties and announced a Joint Action plan for 2011-14. Should the countries enhance their “arms-length transactional” relationship, a deeper alliance can be forged to include untapped sectors with immense potential
Courtesy: Lear21,ThomasWolf/Wikipedia
Germany’s abstention on the UN Resolution on Libya heralds the mellowing of a nation blamed for last century’s most catastrophic wars. This time, Berlin may determine the history of Europe by choosing to pursue its national interests peacefully rather than subjugating an entire populace.
Courtesy: UNPhoto/MarcoDormino
A new United Nations doctrine is revolutionising the manner in which Western powers achieve regime change. Under the pretext of “Responsibility to Protect” –as the doctrine is named –armed intervention does not depend on the aspirations of a populace but the facilitation of existing power equations
Courtesy: AlJazeeraEnglish/Flickr
The fundamental problem when supporting an anti-regime opposition is to ascertain the identity and purpose of the rebels. It is a question –which M.D. Nalapat discovers –is never asked by the United States, no stranger to shoring up rebels in far-off countries.
Courtesy: Feb17.info
As the young protesters in Libya struggle to rewrite the contract between the people and their rulers to make them more accountable, the world is reacting in predictable ways.
Courtesy: CrethiPlethi/Flickr
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.
Courtesy: NinaAldinThune/Wikimedia
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
Courtesy: Hdptcar /Flickr
Ivory Coast is yet another African nation in the throes of political transition and continued interference by the global agencies. At stake is a thriving economy and a fragile tribal balance, which threatens to turn into a religious issue. Neelam Deo reviews the options before the country and the global community.