The moral argument for the invasion and War in Afghanistan used to be that of liberal interventionism—the claim that intervening in the domestic politics of a country is justified if it delivered the people of that country from the clutches of illiberality and coercive governance. Further the claim went that if offered a chance, the people […]
I was going to let this pass, but after some thoughts I am left puzzled as to why a country teetering on the verge of economic collapse and political turmoil would – out of the blue – conduct this kind of publicity stunt. The only conclusion that I can come up is that this seems […]
A day after President Obama vowed no delays to the drawdown of troops in Iraq, synchronized car bombs killed 33 people and five police officers were murdered in Baghdad. In both cases, the attackers hoisted the black flag of the Islamic State of Iraq — a clear sign that al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is […]
The Globe & Mail has an interesting editorial on the Parks Canada expedition to find the wreckages of three lost ships in the Northwest Passage, which I wrote about last week. The expedition has already discovered the HMS Expedition shipwreck, which had been missing for 150 years. The editorial quotes Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who […]
Professor Simon Hix, Director of the Political Science and Political Economy Group at the London School of Economics, has some interesting points on the democratic deficit of the EU post-Lisbon. In spite of an extension of the powers of the European Parliament and further involvement of national parliaments in the European decision making process, Simon […]
In 55 days 49 civilians have died in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with no sings of public protests waning any time soon. Despite all efforts of the State administration to impose curfew, the people continue to challenge the writ of the Government. A lull after the first round of protests was deceptive and public violence […]
Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Laureate and the first universally acclaimed Bengali poet died 69 years ago today. Cultural fora and celebrations in India and Bangladesh mark this day every year. And though there’s much to say about his accomplishments, I can say little about the man or the tremendous impact he’s had on Bengali letters. Therefore, […]
Walter Russell Mead, an esteemed scholar of American history, and provocative observer of current geopolitical trends is attempting to see the world through Pakistan’s eyes. Here’s his Pak-Vision of the situation in Afghanistan through Islamabad’s view: The second major issue shaping negative Pakistani feelings about the United States is almost as important. Pakistanis are on […]
Kenyans appear to have overwhelmingly approved the country’s proposed new constitution with about 65% support in preliminary tallies. More important, perhaps, is the fact that the referendum appears to have gone off peacefully and without a hitch.
You probably already heard this, but at the International Court in Hague where she testified in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell confirmed receiving a gift of “dirty-looking stones” in 1997. These dirty-looking stones turned out to be precious diamonds, prosecutors believed to be Charles Taylor’s “blood diamonds, which fueled Sierra […]
India desperately needs to enact momentous labor and educational reforms in order to capitalize on its demographic dividend and secure its economic future. Whether the country’s political class can muster the requisite will to do so, however, is a perilously open question.
The Awami League government has rounded up all the usual suspects, pushed and pulled away from their seats of power and carnage. Its almost as if it were spring, just so and Sheikh Hasina thought it was time to clean house. In the first instance and most recently, the paramilitary group Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) […]
Max Boot , Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and most importantly a Petraeus advisor, had a chat with Charlie Rose. I invite you, my reader, to watch the whole interview here. There are a few takeaways that you might want to keep in mind as you watch Boot […]
Just days after Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and Syria’s President Bashar Assad traveled to Beirut to quell the fears that another regional war was just around the corner, fighting broke out between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in Southern Lebanon. The trouble started when an Israeli battalion commander was killed […]
