The U.S. Secretary of Defense swung through New Delhi on his eight-day visit to Asia to encourage Indian leaders to help the U.S. with its military and strategic goals in the region
Pakistan
Must-Reads From Around the World: May 30, 2012
Suu Kyi’s World Tour – Armed with her passport and the freedom to travel without restrictions or fear, Burmese opposition leader and iconic democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi embarked on her first international trip in 24 years, …
Must-Reads From Around the World, May 28, 2012
Syrian Massacre – The U.N. Security Council on Sunday condemned Bashar al-Assad’s government for its use of tanks and artillery against civilians during Friday’s Houla massacre that left at least 108 villagers dead. …
Obama’s Afghanistan Problem: Neither Karzai Nor the Taliban Like the ‘Reconciliation’ Script
President Barack Obama huddled with President Hamid Karzai in Chicago on Sunday, urging Afghanistan’s leader to accelerate negotiations with the Taliban over a political solution to the longest war in America’s history. But the …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 21, 2012
Spillover – Lebanon’s Daily Star reports on escalating violence inside the country after soldiers shot dead a prominent anti-Bashar al-Assad Muslim preacher Sunday. “The gravity of the incident… prompted leaders on both sides …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 11, 2012
Fruit Flare-Up – China’s turned to a new weapon in its dispute with the Philippines over contested South China Sea islands. State-run People’s Daily gleefully reports that “fruit from the Philippines will receive stricter …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 8, 2012
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 …
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 …
Suspended British Lord Denies Offering a Bounty for Obama and Bush
Scandal has once again landed Lord Nazir Ahmed, a British Labour peer, into the hotseat. According to Pakistan’s Express Tribune, Ahmed was speaking at a business reception in Haripur on April 15 when he mentioned the bounty …
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 …
No Way Home: In Afghanistan, Former Refugees Are Left Out in the Cold
When Zikariya Nazar Muhammad, 60, embarked on his journey from Karachi in Pakistan to his ancestral home in Afghanistan’s rural interior, he carried a silent hope: that life in his own country would be better than a life of …
Talks with the Taliban Are Inevitable, but Who Will Be at the Table?
The fact that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told the Wall Street Journal he’s held three-way negotiations with the U.S. and the Taliban should come as no surprise: the U.S. has said that within two years it will end its …