In The News

Could ASEAN Drift Apart?

Geoff Wade February 25, 2011
The motto of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community.” But the economic powerhouse to the north – China – directs more attention to ASEAN’s mainland members in the Greater Mekong subregion than its maritime members. The subregion comprises of five member states: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand as well as the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and...

Pakistan and the Bomb

Bruce Riedel February 21, 2011
The international community's questions about Pakistani control over its growing nuclear arsenal rankles the nation. Military leaders maintain control over weapons, while democratically elected civilian leaders have nominal authority, explains Bruce Riedel, senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in the Brookings Institution, and author of a new book, “Deadly Embrace:...

If You Thought the Bank Bailout Was Bad, Wait Until the Mortgage Defaults Hit Home

Morgan Kelly November 16, 2010
Ireland’s decision in September to borrow from the European Central Bank to repay €55 billion in bonds of bankrupt Irish banks calmed markets for the time being. The outcome satisfied large European banks that held the bonds, but left the Irish government with an open-ended commitment to cover losses amounting to more than 20 percent of GDP. Writing for the Irish Times, economist Morgan Kelly...

Asia’s Clouded Horizon – Part I

Marvin Ott September 27, 2010
Leading Asia’s growing power and influence, China takes an increasingly assertive stance on historical territorial disputes. This two-part series examines foreign-policy conflicts in Asia and the potential for cooperation among economic giants – China, US and Japan. In the first article, Marvin Ott describes renewed US interest in Southeast Asia via attendance at Association of Southeast Asian...

Reining in China's Ambitions

Daniel Blumenthal July 28, 2010
China claims the bulk of the South China Sea almost as its lake, and bristles about what it considers hostile passage of foreign naval vessels in the economic zone. The Obama administration has recently sent notice it insists on freedom of navigation and it expects peaceful resolution of territorial disputes with Vietnam, Malaysia and other nations. China prefers dealing with nations one to one,...

Kyrgyzstan Turmoil Puts US Base and Afghan War in Balance

Dilip Hiro April 12, 2010
Landlocked, lacking resources that typically attract notice of distant powers, the Kyrgyz Republic holds a strategic position. Not far from war-torn Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda hatched plans for the 9/11 attacks, Kyrgyzstan remains a nation of interest. Russia gave the go-ahead to former Soviet republics to assist in the US-led effort against Islamic extremism, explains author Dilip Hiro, but...

Freedom Is Not Found Online

Aditya Chakrabortty April 1, 2010
The growth of the internet has long been perceived as a key to globalizing the notion of a free society as championed by the West. But world leaders like Bill Clinton and dot-com boomers alike now sound naïve to have thought the web's spread could seamlessly produce a "borderless" world of free expression. These "cyber-utopians" failed to realize that the Internet, like...