Philippines: Due to political pressure, the Arroyo administration has been forced to take serious action over November 2009’s Election Massacre. A suspect from the Ampatuan political clan was charged: “Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, southern Philippines on Nov. 23…” The government has also set up a […]
The fallacy of composition is the proposition that the causal relations that hold at the individual level also hold at a collective or aggregate social level. Allow me to play with this fallacy, for nothing helps one to comprehend the problems of the many than to see the problems of the few. Credit card bills […]
In the latest issue of Foreign Policy Barbara Crossette writes about how India is the real “headache” in Asia. She refers to India as the “elephant in the room” that no one seems to be talking about. The piece is extremely critical of how India handles its international relations, and calls it “an international adolescent, […]
I’d like to alert you to a short piece written recently on Bangladesh. The piece was published in the Japan Times a little more than a month ago. The author Gwynn Dyer expertly runs through the last three decades in the running gag of an internecine conflict in Bangladesh between two powerful families: As Dyer […]
The recent visit to Japan by Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, has some analysts now considering the prospect of a Japanese-led effort to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. By all accounts the visit was a success. The Iranian envoy was receptive to Japan’s case for a civilian nuclear energy program and expressed interest in further […]
As students of history know, countries don’t come into existence overnight and there is a long and hard struggle behind every political success, especially if it results in carving out independent land for a group of people. Take for example Bangladesh. Bengali as a language was never embraced by the country, Bengalis culture, history, and […]
It’s looking like the Awami League government is turning the refugee crisis consequent to climate climate into a policy issue. The Daily Star reported today that, “A parliamentary standing committee on Tuesday asked the expatriate welfare ministry to start preparation for rehabilitation of two crore people with jobs abroad, who are feared to be […]
The much heralded Asian Century is upon us. Or so at least pundits and scholars would have us thinking. Through numerous books (When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the New Global Order), articles (Next Hot Language to Study: Chinese), op-eds (Welcome To The Asian Century By 2050), and strategic […]
Zainab Jeewanjee discusses this weeks T.S.A.’s enhanced security directives. She explains how increased security measures are useful and should work in tandem with U.S. led soft power so as to mitigate any chance to unintended consequences such as Anti-Americanism or racial profiling.
Recent developments regarding the contentious issue of relocating the Marine Corps Air Station in Futenma, Okinawa have elicited a heated exchange of ideas and much speculation on the future of the US-Japan alliance. Indeed, since the recently elected administration of Yukio Hatoyama first announced that it would seek a renegotiation of the treaty guiding the […]
It is an odd thing to wish for more positive news coverage of a country’s socio-economics. On one hand, one is grateful for any coverage whatsover, particularly when the coverage is of an overlooked country like Bangladesh; on the other one wishes bitterly that the news on the ground were such that positive coverage were […]
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh lifted a stay on a four year old High Court verdict that had declared illegal and unconstitutional the fifth amendment of the Constitution of Bangladesh. The fifth amendment had legitimized all successive governments after the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from 1975 until April 1979. This ban now makes […]
If education is the engine of economic growth and social replenishment, and education outcomes are path dependent, then we must care about how our youth begin their studies. This is more the case in Bangladesh than in most other countries. The sheer fact of the population of Bangladesh, its density and the growing divergence in […]
As India steps into a new decade it seems ready to take on the world. But this process will not be without some big challenges. While terrorism and internal security are crucial concerns, sustaining the rapid economic growth and making India easier and safer to do business with are also huge challenges. With the India-US […]
Let’s ring in the new year with forward looking news. Bangladesh and India are moving closer to politics in concert. The cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding that Dhaka and New Delhi would import and export electricity from each other over the long term. The Daily Star reports: “A meeting of the cabinet chaired by […]
