26,11 four years later Courtesy: Swami Stream/Flickr
27 November 2012

Mumbai, after 26/11

Four years after the 26/11 terrorist attacks, Mumbai remains almost as vulnerable. The city is losing its expansiveness, while terrorism drives a wedge between the Hindu and Muslim communities in bindaas Mumbai. Are India’s secular traditions strong enough to emerge from such assaults with its integrity assured?

talib Courtesy: movieevery/WikimediaCommons
26 November 2012

Squeezing the Haqqanis: Will it work?

In the backdrop of a gradually weakening Quetta Shura, the Haqqani network has emerged as a powerful extremist group operating in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater. How can the UN Security Council's recent sanctions against the Haqqanis act as a potential de-motivator for this Pakistan-based terrorist outfit?

obama second term_0 Courtesy: U.S. Navy
10 November 2012

The second term

U.S. President Barack Obama will certainly have the benefit of continuity in his second term, but he has a range of impending crises to address immediately - be it to avert the so-called fiscal cliff before the end of the year when automatic cuts kick in or plan for the military drawdown from Afghanistan.

Courtesy: The White House
7 November 2012

Obama 2: Diverse aspirations coalesce

The changing American demography worked in favour of the Democrats, but winning a re-election may be the easy part for U.S. President Barack Obama. He must now craft an agenda adequately bipartisan to pass legislation addressing the country economic issues.

obama win Courtesy: Hiperpato/WikimediaCommons
7 November 2012

Obama’s next four years

Though U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected by a generous vote, he will continue to face the legislative gridlock of the past two years. How he acts in the coming weeks will tell us whether there is a newly-revitalised President in town, or the same one the world has got to know in the last four years.

obrom nd2 Courtesy: WikimediaCommons
6 November 2012

A choice without a difference

The electoral races in the US reflect the split down the middle in political affiliations of the people. Yet, no major change is expected. This election is about whether the wealthy in the United States can be asked to pay taxes at the same if not slightly higher rates as the middle class.

romney obama neelam Courtesy: Tktru,Calebrw/WikimediaCommons
5 November 2012

U.S. elections: a hand-to-hand fight

The race for the White House between President Barack Obama and Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney is so close, that the outcome could be anyone’s guess. This has resulted in the quality of the candidates' performance in the three Presidential debates being focused on for the first time.

Courtesy: WikimediaCommons
2 November 2012

China: New leaders, old policy

The new President and Premier of China will be formally elected at the 18th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China on November 8. Given the ongoing socio-economic issues and an increasingly independent army, will the new leadership bring about a change in China’s foreign policy?