Late-Night Surprise – Israel’s Haaretz reports on the unexpected agreement early Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition Kadima Party chairman Shaul Mofaz to form a national unity government. The move …
India
Obama’s Afghanistan Plan: Echoes of Vietnam in the U.S. Exit Strategy
To understand the historical significance of President Barack Obama’s visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday, imagine that President Richard Nixon had, in the spring of 1972, flown to Saigon to signal American voters that the Vietnam …
Will Pakistan and India’s Back-to-Back Missile Tests Spoil the Mood?
Another nation decided to flex its ballistic muscle this week in what is shaping up to be a missile-happy month in Asia. On Wednesday, Pakistan announced it had successfully launched what it called an intermediate-range ballistic …
India Successfully Tests Long-Range Missile. China Unimpressed
India successfully launched its first domestically developed long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday morning, joining a handful of nations that possess ICBM technology. The Agni V missile, capable of …
India Gets Ready to Test Long-Range Ballistic Missile
India is scheduled to test a domestically developed long-range intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday that, if successful, will be among the most advanced weapons in its artillery. The Agni V missile, capable of carrying …
The U.S. and Brazil: Why the Two Hemispheric Giants Should Take Each Other More Seriously
After I and a number of colleagues wrote last month about possible U.S.-Brazil friction on the eve of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to America, a Brazilian diplomat I respect contacted me about what he felt were …
Does Zardari’s Visit Signal A Pragmatic Shift in India-Pakistan Relations?
China and India have a way of separating thorny questions of geo-politics from practical matters of trade. It’s a diplomatic strategy that, despite its obvious limitations, has helped keep border disputes at a minimum and …
Narendra Modi and the TIME 100: Even an Online Poll Sparks Controversy
Mohamed Nasheed: TIME Meets the Ousted President of the Maldives
Mohamed Nasheed was in New York City this week promoting The Island President, a new documentary film about his beautiful archipelago nation, the Maldives, and its perilous struggle against climate change. The documentary follows …
Funeral of an Exiled Tibetan Activist
Thousands gather to pay homage to Jamphel Yeshi who set himself ablaze in protest.
U.N. Sri Lanka Vote Redefines India’s Regional Role
In the early months of 2009 when Sri Lanka’s war was reaching its final crescendo, frantic calls were made to Colombo by Sri Lankan diplomats at the United Nations headquarters in New York. According to a top Sri Lankan diplomat, some calls were directly to Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, warning the Sri Lankan president that the U.S., …
Tibetan’s Self-Immolation Casts Shadow over BRICS Summit
The build-up to conclaves like the BRICS summit underway now in New Delhi usually generates lofty rhetoric about the shifting of global power and the emergence of a new world order. The geo-political grouping, which brings …
The State Visit That Isn’t: Is the U.S. Dissing Brazil’s Dilma On the Eve of Her Trip?
In the often Sisyphean exercise known as U.S.-Latin American relations, old habits die hard on both sides. Even the Obama Administration, which came to power pledging a less high-handed hemispheric policy, snubbed Brazil this …