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Archive for the category “Asia”

21 May 2019

Is Sri Lanka Really A Victim Of China’s ‘Debt Trap’?

The economic reality is that Sri Lanka leased out Hambantota port to China largely due to a persistent balance of payment (BOP) crisis resulting from the reduction of trade over the years even while external debt servicing costs have been soaring. Sri Lank faced a severe shortage of foreign reserves in light of the upcoming debt servicing payments, due to the maturity of international sovereign bonds. Therefore, the country had to look for various avenues to obtain foreign currency inflows. Leasing out Hambantota port was one of the ways to increase the country’s foreign reserves.

Read Here – The Diplomat

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12 May 2019

Next Hambantota? Welcome To The Chinese-Funded US$1.4 Billion Port City Colombo In Sri Lanka

Port City Colombo, an ambitious Chinese-funded project to build a new metropolis on a 665-acre island reclaimed from the sea, is set to rise just off the popular spot in a couple of decades. Rising in tandem, however, are concerns about the amount Beijing is lending Colombo, and the circumstances of those loans – with the controversial China-backed Hambantota Port looming large in Sri Lankans’ memory.

Read Here – South China Morning Post

Also Read: Sri Lanka Rejects Fears Of China’s ‘Debt-Trap Diplomacy’ In Belt And Road Projects

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06 May 2019

The Challenges That Drive Up Military Spending – In Asia-Pacific And Beyond

Whereas Sino-American arms dynamics could well be attributed to traditional concerns related to interstate dynamics over unresolved flashpoints, much of the rest of the Asia-Pacific region confronts a holistic array of security concerns, especially those that are transboundary and transnational in nature – natural calamities, violent extremism and even the mundane, daily occurrences of cross-border smuggling and illegal fishing, to name just a few examples.

Read Here – South China Morning Post

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06 May 2019

How the Sri Lanka Attacks Will Ripple Across South Asia

Despite the temptation to blame violent extremism on foreign fighters returning from Iraq and Syria and the subsequent rise of the Islamic State’s virtual caliphate, the fact is that the seeds of extremism in South Asia were sown long ago by elites from Kabul to Colombo. Often dressed up in the garb of anti-imperialism and nationalism, their brand of exclusionary politics, based on nativism and sectarianism, barely masks a deep and abiding commitment to a status quo of social inequality.

Read Here – World Politics Review

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05 May 2019

A Big Reason Why Pyongyang Fears Washington.

Can the United States and North Korea arrive at a deal—any deal—on denuclearization, normalization of relations, or at the very least a nuclear freeze? Given the holding pattern in nuclear diplomacy since the second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, the prospects don’t appear particularly bright. The hold-up in the talks, however, is not simply the product of personality clashes, maximalist negotiating positions, and incongruent objectives between Washington and Pyongyang. History also has a lot to do with it.

Read Here – The National Interest

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05 May 2019

During Its Civil War, Sri Lanka Was a Garrison State; Will The Easter Attacks Turn It Back Into One?

The Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka against Christian targets that killed hundreds raises obvious concerns of remilitarizing a society still getting over the scars of war. The worst violence the country has seen since its longstanding civil war ended almost exactly ten years ago is naturally being discussed at least partly in that war’s context. But while the means of warfare are similar, the motivations are different.

Read Here – Modern War Institute

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30 Apr 2019

Japan’s Global Emperor Exits The Stage

Japan’s Emperor Akihito, who is abdicating after three decades on the Chrysanthemum Throne, has been much more of a global leader than a national one. That sets him apart from his father – and from many of the world’s current leaders.

Read Here – Project Syndicate

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29 Apr 2019

Can South Asia Gain From China’s Belt And Road Initiative?

The fact that 37 heads of state and government attended the just concluded second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing proves that a growing number of states are seeking to jump on the BRI bandwagon and grab a slice of the pie. It is indeed a massive initiative, envisioning an integrated network stretching from the shores of the Pacific to the heart of Europe, while extending to Southeast Asia and parts of Africa.

Read Here – Dawn

Also Read: Xi-Imran Meeting: China Hopes Pakistan, India Can Meet Halfway

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26 Apr 2019

Asia Is The New Ground Zero For Islamist Terror

The murder of more than 250 churchgoers, tourists, and other civilians in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday should serve as a reminder that Asia is now the world’s leading site of Islamist extremism. The region’s leaders must either address the problem at its source or prepare for more bloodshed in the coming years and decades.

Read Here – Project Syndicate

Also Read: Easter Sunday Bombings Point To Colombo’s Failure In Bridging Communal Faultlines

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23 Apr 2019

Washington’s Gamble In Afghanistan

There’s a famous saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that measure, Washington has tested the limits of sanity with its strategy in Afghanistan: For seventeen years, it pursued the same policy while hoping in vain that it would produce the desired outcome. Recent months, however, have brought a much-needed course correction.

Read Here – The National Interest

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