APEC – Gregory Clark, over at Japan Times, argues that APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is an obsolete framework that was never very affective in the first place. If one agrees with him or not, he gives a good background on the history of various political-economic groupings in East-Southeast Asian region since the Cold War. Obama’s […]
On a lark, I’d begun to write today’s post with the idea that I’d deal mainly with the ill-gauged foresight with which even the most vaunted media outlets in the U.S deal with Bangladesh and her political economy and “culture”. With no small irreverence, I’d started the piece with the following declaration and all that […]
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with his Indian counterpart next week to help boost Indo-Canadian relations that have been “cool” for more than three decades. Relations between the two countries declined after India indirectly used Canadian nuclear technology for its first nuclear tests in 1974. Thereafter it has build six Pressurized Heavy Water […]
با دوستان هایی از این دشمنان ما نیاز ندارد. The meeting between Pakistan’s ‘super anchors’ and Hillary Clinton was, well, disastrous, not for America or Clinton, but for these talk show hosts. Hillary was calm, controlled, measured and she answered all sorts of questions thoroughly and intelligently. And unlike most of the panel, she was […]
Musharaff gives an interview using unkind words for Zardari and Ch. Nisar defends Zardari. Really? Ch. Nisar has two passions (if you read what he has been saying after he became the opposition leader): attacking every Zardari and attacking everything America. Therefore, it was very strange to read that Ch. Nisar huffed and puffed about […]
The Foreign Minister of Bangladeshi, Dr. Dipu Moni declared that member states attending the UN Climate Change Conference soon to be held in Copenhagen must give grants–not loans–to countries that are victims of the consequences of global climate and environmental change. Addressing the Climate Vulnerable Forum in the Maldives, Begum Moni said “River erosion, land slide, […]
Cambodia and Thailand – Thailand recalled its ambassador from Cambodia on November 5th over former Thai PM and wanted fugitive, Thaksin Shinawatra’s appointment as economic adviser to Cambodian PM Hun Sen. A few weeks back there were rumors that Shinawatra would be allowed to move to Cambodia, but the Cambodian government denied this after […]
I’ve been following the news of three Bangladeshi men who’ve been implicated in an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka. One of these men is the son of a leader of a major Islamist political party in Bangladesh. I will continue to follow this story, but promise that there will be much else to […]
The Defense Ministers of Japan and India met over the weekend to review defense relations between the two countries. In a joint press statement the two ministers agreed to increase cooperation in anti-piracy operations along the Coast of Somalia. They also “recognized their mutual interest in the safety of sea-lines of communications and welcomed recent […]
The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by one Bjorn Lomborg, who occupies the role of Director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a Danish think tank. Dr. Lomborg is interested in prescribing some hard to swallow medicine to all those environmentalists who claim that capping carbon emissions is the magic pill that will solve […]
Whether or not moral imperatives cut mustard, surely medium term strategic interests will be more successful in delivering workable solutions to the crisis of rising waters in Bangladesh. If developing and advanced industrial economies do not move to radically control carbon emissions, not only–in time–will Manhattan and parts of Florida be underwater, but those islands […]
Zainab Jeewanjee covers Fareed Zakaria’s interview of General Musharraf on CNN’s show GPS. Musharraf talks to Zakaria about the Pakistan army’s role in defeating terrorism and whether Pakistan truly has an interest in defeating cross border terrorism in Afghanistan given that the situation is rooted in a ’60 year old geopolitical rivalry at play between India and Pakistan” .
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein We all know that Pakistan’s overall situation has been dedeteriorating for decades and it has entered a critical phase. And, regretfully, it seems that there is nothing that is going to reverse the tide in Pakistan.Therefore, people are asking – […]
Secretary of State Hlilary Clinton visits Pakistan to rally support for support in the War on terror. Zainab Jeewanjee reports on the toughening stance on Islamabad’s efforts at uprooting terror as Clinton addresses students and major news media. Her diplomacy unfortunately falls short as there is rapidly increasing skepticism in Pakistan of cooperating with the United States.
Now that our quiet and uncomfortable introductions are out of the way, I’d like to point to another article that follows up on the one I wrote about yesterday. The Daily Star reports that : “The Detective Branch of police produced Mufti Harun Izahar, son of Islami Oikya Jote leader Mufti Izaharul Islam, Shahidul Islam […]
