In The News

Chinese History and Reality

June 8, 2011
As China pursues rapid economic growth and increases military spending, the government insists the ultimate goal is a peaceful rise. But neighbors that share the South China Sea and East Sea are not so sure. China's first aircraft carrier launches this year. Both the ship's capability and its name send shudders through the region, reports Philip Bowring for the Asia Sentinel. The 67,000...

Private Prayers for Assad's Survival

Dilip Hiro June 7, 2011
Street protests, along with a nod from the US, quickly led to the fall of Egypt's long-time ruler. Syrian streets have been the stage for protests and violent clashes since late January, too, but desire for stability from both friends and foes could ensure that Assad stays in power, warns author Dilip Hiro. Russia, a longtime ally of Syria, has supplied the regime with advanced weaponry...

The Battle for Pakistan

Bruce Riedel June 2, 2011
Pakistan's conflicting policy of fighting Al Qaeda while supporting Islamist militants against India has boomeranged spectacularly. Former intelligence official Bruce Riedel, now senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in the Brookings Institution, discounts the notion that Pakistan is a failed state. It is a state under siege by the very radicals nurtured by elements of...

Yemen Truce Ends With Blasts, Stokes Civil War Worries

Mohamed Sudam June 1, 2011
As citizens protest poverty and autocratic rule throughout the Middle East, global powers urge leaders to arrange transfer of power quickly, avoiding instability that allows terrorist groups to thrive. Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in office for more than three decades, and analysts question whether a strategy is in play to allow Al Qaeda and extremists some gain in rural areas...

Thein Sein Tackles Chinese Navy Issue

Wai Moe May 26, 2011
Energy helps China maintain manufacturing prowess, steady employment and political stability. During a visit to China, Burma President Thein Sein will discuss the Chinese Navy’s use of Burmese ports, reports Wai Moe for the Irawaddy. China seeks permission to use ports rather than establish a permanent naval base, reports an anonymous source, aiming to patrol the Indian Ocean, protecting oil and...

Groomed for Suicide: How Taliban Recruits Children for Mass Murder

Jon Boone May 23, 2011
Severe poverty, shortcomings in education, restraints on women appearing in public, religious extremism and ongoing war all combine to limit opportunities for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan – and all pose new dangers. Struggling to recruit adults as suicide bombers, the Taliban increasingly turn to desperate teenagers and younger children, reports Jon Boone for the Guardian. Taliban...

Something Dramatic

B. Raman May 20, 2011
Pakistan’s military is furious about the US conducting surprise raids in Pakistani territory. The deep mistrust between two allies was revealed after the US killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad without notifying Pakistani counterparts. US analysts question whether Pakistanis helped shield bin Laden, a fugitive since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and US politicians threatened to reduce military aid....