Foreign Policy Blogs

Asia & Pacific

Defeat Taliban First

It is nauseating to see people being slaughtered in Pakistan these days. Human life has no respect for barbaric animals responsible for these bombings and suicide attacks. And if the news of bombings and killing was not enough, I was horrified to learn that Lahore’s commissioner (incorrectly) blames India for these attacks while Punjab’s law […]

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Reaction to Tarique Rahman's Elevation in BNP

There has been a fairly energetic mixed reaction on Tarique Rahman’s elevation to second in command, within the BNP, next only to his mother, leader of the BNP and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.  On the one hand within the BNP, senior party members claim that his name did not come up in discussions […]

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Identifying Demons in Pakistan

Zainab Jeewanjee critiques “The Demons that Haunt Pakistan” a SABRINA TAVERNISE article in the New York Times (NYTIMES). Jeewanjee explains that current skepticism of U.S. involvement in the Af-Pak war is not a matter of irrational, conspiracy theories and a personal hatred for all things American, it comes after a prolonged and now daily struggle against extremist Islam, and terrorists who massacre Pakistani’s increasingly since 9/11.

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Three arrested for possession of uranium

Barely a month since the Kaiga Atomic Power Station accident that exposed 55 workers to excessive radiation, India had another nuclear related incident today. In Mumbai three people were arrested on charges of illegal possession of five kilograms of depleted uranium. Though it is unknown how they obtained the uranium, the Bhabha Atomic Research Center […]

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Tarique Rahman son of BNP party founder and President Elected to Party Leadership

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), currrently boycotting its minority seats in parliament, elected Tarique Rahman, the son of the current leader of the party and former Prime Minister as the de facto second in command in party leadership.  This move makes leadership in the party founded by Tarique’s late father– and the assassinated husband of […]

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Charges filed against Headley for involvement in 26/11

US authorities today filed charges against David Headley for his involvement in the planning and execution of the November 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai. According to a US Department of Justice press release, he “was charged in a 12-count criminal information with six counts of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and […]

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Russia and India sign new nuclear deal

Continuing their tradition of nuclear cooperation, Russia and India signed a civilian nuclear cooperation deal on Monday. The ‘Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’ signed during their annual bilateral summit, will set up five new nuclear reactors in the states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Speaking at a press […]

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Musharraff's Solution

Pervez Musharraf weighs in on the Af-Pak war & President Obama’s troop surge. Zainab Jeewanjee reports Musharrf’s recommendation for a “political surge” at the Foreign Policy association.

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Bangladesh Joins Other Countries to Fight for Workable Solution to Climate Change

Bangladeshi media, represented by The Daily Star, has gotten ahead of the curve on the consequences of climate and is really fighting for the claim of social justice in the Copenhagen Conference, now well on its way.  This morning, December 7th, 2009 the Daily Star published an op-ed piece that is being published in over […]

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End of Week – December Hiatus

*Attention: Readers,  I will be taking a two week break from posting.  Posting will restart December 20th* Cambodia:  More on the battle between soft authoritarian leader, Prime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodian opposition leader, Sam Rainsy.  Rainsy’s theatrics concerning a territorial dispute between Vietnam and Cambodia resulted in Hun Sen stripping Rainsy of his parliamentary […]

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HUJI Leader Trained as Mujahadin, Confesses to Attempted Murder of Current Prime Minister

The political leader of the militant Islamist group, Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) confessed to being directly responsible for the attempted assassination on the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh in August 21, 2004, when she was the opposition leader to the BNP led alliance.  That attack killed 20 and injured at least 300 individuals. After being detained […]

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Afghanistan and Pakistan

Today’s Washington Post is reporting that Obama’s promise didn’t even last 24 hours. According to the paper, Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen all three danced around the issue of withdrawal from Afghanistan while testifying in front of Armed Services Committee a day after the speech. US Presidents have always struggled with the […]

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India announces emission cuts

Just weeks after the United States and China declared their emission cut targets, India today announced that it would reduce its carbon emissions by 20-25 per cent by the year 2020. Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Environment Minister informed the Lok Sabha (India’s lower house of Parliament) that this would be achieved through policy changes including […]

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Where's the Improved Af-Pak Strategy?

President Obama delivers a speech on the Afghanistan Pakistan (Af-Pak) war promising 30,000 new troops to the region. Zainab Jeewanjee sheds light on the need for a new strategy either in tandem with, or other than just a troop surge, especially in the case of Pakistan.

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Pakistan before & after Obama's big Afghan speech!

So far, in 2009 alone, 9000 Pakistanis have died in Pakistan because of terrorism – that is bombings, suicide attacks and other acts of extreme violence against Pakistan, and Pakistani society by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Yes, 9000 (nine thousand) Pakistanis have died because of terrorism in 2009 alone. This terrorism according to Pakistan is […]

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