Blaming India
No country has done more than India to stall progress on international climate negotiations during the past two months. Read Here – Slate
Will The Guns Fall Silent Now?
The past 33 months comprise the darkest chapter in Syria’s long history. Since protests in March 2010 turned into an armed conflict against the government of President Bashar Al Assad, Read Here – Gulf News
Rediscovering Asia
After a period of distraction, the U.S. reaffirms by word and deed its interest in Asia. Read Here – The Diplomat
A Divorce Not Imminent?
Disquiet in the Gulf over the interim nuclear deal with Iran has added to the anguish about a break in US–Saudi relations. But it is hard to get too worked up about this. In recent years there’s been a lot of anguish about a break. It is true that, unlike most myths of a golden […]
Dangerous Dance In The East Seas
The Communist Party summit that recast Xi Jinping as a reformer extraordinaire has produced its first foreign-policy initiative: poking Japan in the eye, writes William Pesak. Read Here – Bloomberg
Iran Deal Threat To Neocon Raison D’etre
Absent a war with Iran—which seemed increasingly likely absent a deal—the neocons will be deprived of their raison d’etre. Yes, they can rail about China, which is making dangerously provocative moves against Japan this week. But the Middle East is where the real action is for the neocons. Iran has been a crucial enemy, the […]
Coup Prone Country’s Most Powerful Man
General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, who pushed the Pakistani Taliban out of Swat Valley, is handing over power after six years as Pakistan‘s chief of army staff. He is passing the baton to General Raheel Sharif, who will now become the coup-prone country’s most powerful man. Read Here – AlJazeera
Trouble In Thailand
In the coming weeks, Thailand’s political crisis is likely to escalate, not de-escalate, ultimately resulting in either a snap election or some kind of extraconstitutional removal of the government. In other words, more political tension with little resolution, a carbon copy of Thai politics going all the way back to 2001, when the populist telecommunications […]
Flagging Afghan Concerns
The Afghan president‘s push to delay a security pact with the U.S. has undermined confidence in Afghanistan’s future, testing international support for the country at a crucial moment, the U.S.-led coalition’s top commander said. Read Here – WSJ
China’s Forex Route
The roadmap for China’s foreign exchange reforms has now come into focus, following the recent conclusion of the landmark Third Plenum, which outlined the blueprint that is set to shape the direction of economic reforms in the world’s second-largest economy for the next decade. Read Here – The Diplomat
