Ever since President Barack Obama announced on 21 December that John Kerry would succeed Hillary Clinton as the new US Secretary of State, much has been written in the Indian sub-continental press that the 69-year-old five-time Senator from Massachusetts has a tilt towards Pakistan and won’t be India’s friend. One reason given to “prove” this […]
Unless you’ve been on a different planet for the past 3 months, or don’t have children, you would know what I am referring to when I say ‘Gangnam Style’. PSY, and his catchy tune, is an international phenomenon that, through the power of You Tube, has reached virtually every computer screen and living room in […]
The year 2012 will go into the history books as one of contrasting transitions. China’s five- year cycle for Communist Party congresses and leadership turnover overlapped with the U.S.’s four-year electoral calendar. And if that once-in-20-years coincidence wasn’t enough, Egypt’s rocky shift from dictatorship to democracy continues to remind us of what transition looks like in […]
Syria’s Alawite regime collapses from within and without. High-level defections march in step with rebel gains through the Sunni heartland. The Obama administration’s signature regional strategy — described in a Freudian slip by a French career diplomat here as “waiting from behind” — now badly trails events. That would not constitute a disaster for Washington if the fate […]
The 2008 Indo-U.S. Civilian Nuclear Agreement was supposed to mark a watershed moment for India – U.S. relations, ending the two democracies long-standing estrangement and ushering in a new era where New Delhi and Washington would be “indispensable partners.” But four years after the deal came into effect, much of the initial enthusiasm that it […]
In defiance of all appearances, Egypt‘s President Mohammed Morsi has declared “the dawn of a new Egypt” following the implementation of the new constitution. For him, Egypt will now be fairer, more closely in touch with its Islamic roots and open for development without the stifling cronyism of the Mubarak era. The reality of what […]
The European Central Bank has managed to calm the markets with its promise of unlimited purchases of eurozone government bonds, because it effectively assured bondholders that the taxpayers and pensioners of the eurozone’s still-sound economies would, if necessary, shoulder the repayment burden. Although the ECB left open how this would be carried out, its commitment […]
Most male drop-outs living in Bangkok’s most notorious slum, Klong Toei, are presented with two principal career paths: speed dealer or stevedore. The first involves ducking cops, consorting with junkies and hardening your neighborhood’s rep as a crime-infested no-go zone. Klong Toei’s reputation for selling “ya ba” — pink meth tabs that smell like cotton […]
In ways that China’s leaders were probably not expecting, the Year of the Dragon lived up to its hype. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2012 — as a dragon year — was supposed to be particularly lucky and momentous, charged with auspicious signs of change. While the Chinese government may dispute that this year has […]
People who are surprised by certain recurrences in Russian history apparently are not aware that popular culture changes very slowly, if at all. U.S. history is a good example. The U.S. emancipated itself from Britain 250 years ago, forming a republic intended to be unique. Yet even today, our political and legal culture is thoroughly imbued with concepts and values inherited from Britain. Russians are no […]
