ViewsWeek Views from around the world
The Nobel Peace committee has failed to read the legend of Malala Yousafzai for what it’s worth. While it would be well-nigh impossible to fully configure her potential, the nearest anyone came to immortalizing her universal avatar was a banner in Nepal that read: “Every child’s sister, every parent’s daughter”. While this may be an emotional call even if well …
October, 2013
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13 October
India’s Central Asia Ambitions Outfoxed by China and Russia
At present, Moscow has essentially shut India out from Kyrgyzstan after sending the first installments of a new US$1 billion military aid package to the country. This follows the strategic setback that India suffered in 2010 when it lost use of the Tajikistan Ayni airbase to Russia. And in the two larger, energy-rich nations of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, New Delhi …
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12 October
Will Africa Leave the World Bank Behind?
Governments across the continent are looking for new development models after the policies of privatization and liberalization seem to have run their course. The arrival of Jim Yong Kim as president of the World Bank bearing promises of a cultural revolution comes at a critical time for Africa’s prospects. Africa is now the world’s fastest-growing continent, but questions about policy …
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12 October
What Will Ukraine Gain from Farm Deal with China?
A deal signed between Ukrainian and Chinese authorities last month may impact up to 3 million hectares of prime farmland in eastern Ukraine, a space roughly the size of Belgium. China, the world’s most populous country, with over 1.35 billion inhabitants, consumes 20% of the world’s food supply, but constitutes only 9% of the world’s farmland. As the country quickly …
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11 October
Neo-liberalism and Militancy in AfPak
In Pakistan, over 24,000 containers carrying arms for NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan have been allegedly missing for the last four years or so, but the Coalition authorities are silent. From retired Pakistani army generals to serving bureaucrats and from politicians to the Taliban, beneficiaries of the scandal belong to powerful institutions. This seems the reason behind Pakistani media’s reluctance to …
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11 October
Pakistan’s Fading General
The careers of our senior military hierarchy, a confidential prerogative of the military secretary’s branch of the GHQ (Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters), are being openly (and irresponsibly) discussed in the media, thanks to the indecisiveness of the present regime in making critical appointments. Not good for the country, let alone the armed forces! The army’s bad image not only had …
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11 October
In Chaotic Hyperbole, Truth Loses in Pakistan-India Relations
It was making a mountain out of a molehill. Both the (Indian) Army and the media were complicit in this: One deliberately and the other out of ignorance. The recent anti-infiltration operations in Keran sector which were declared over after two weeks on October 8 by the Chief of Army Staff, General Bikram Singh, in Delhi and the Northern Army …
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10 October
How Racism Caused The US Government Shutdown
This isn’t an article about how Republicans shut down the government because they hate that the President is black. This is an article about how racism caused the government to shut down and the U.S. to teeter on the brink of an unprecedented and catastrophic default. I understand if you’re confused. A lot of people think the only way that …
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10 October
Pakistan’s Oversized Submarine Ambitions
Before his last term ended abruptly in a 1999 military coup, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dreamed that Pakistan would become an “Asian Tiger,” comparable with the rising economies of Southeast Asia. Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari dashed those hopes: Islamabad is now US$58 billion in debt, and economic growth has slowed to a murmur. Nevertheless, Sharif has swept into power …
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9 October
How America is Transforming
The government shutdown continues in the US and worries are growing about the looming debt-ceiling deadline, and whether the US will default. The media discussions are occurring around the clock about the evolving positions of the Republican and Democratic parties. However, so far they do not appear to be much different from what they were earlier, leaving little room for …
