In The News

Indian Diplomacy Energized by Search for Oil

Pramit Mitra March 14, 2005
China and India have faced parallel challenges attendant to their booming economies; the most recent is energy security. As Pramit Mitra writes, India will emerge as the fourth-largest energy consumer by 2010. And like China, in its quest to secure adequate resources, India has forged strategic alliances, several of which may render the United States none-too-pleased. On the plus side, India...

Oil Fuels Beijing's New Power Game

Ziad Haider March 11, 2005
As China's industry continues to grow apace, so does its energy needs. In the next quarter-century, China is expected to account for more than one-fifth of growth in world energy demand. As Ziad Haider writes, Beijing's pursuit of fuel resources and safe supply routes may have implications for regional and global geopolitics. Considering competing Western energy demand – and, crucially...

India's City of Contrasts May Really Need Two Names

Anand Giridharadas February 28, 2005
Ten years ago, in seeking to escape its colonial legacy, India's wealthiest state re-named its flagship city, and Bombay became Mumbai. To this day, however, there is still confusion over what to call the city; the Times of India writes "Mumbai" on front-page news, but calls its entertainment insert the Bombay Times. Increasingly – and much to the confusion of outsiders – the...

Millions of Indians Await Benefits of Globalization

Jessica Einhorn February 25, 2005
At a time when many analysts predict a booming future for the Indian economy, India remains hesitant to fully embrace globalization. India and its neighbor China have been tagged as the world's next economic superpowers. Yet while China industriously makes its shores hospitable to foreign capital, Indian reformers continue to grapple with a long history of intransigent domestic opposition to...

With Neighbors Like These

V. Sudarshan February 18, 2005
India's refusal to participate in the SARC summit earlier this month was a direct reaction to trouble in three of its neighboring countries: Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The crisis in Kathmandu has been particularly difficult for India, one of Nepal's biggest trading partners. Many New Delhi diplomats believe that India's best course is to successfully convince King Gyanendra of...

Local Tricks to Tackle Climate Shifts

Mustak Hossain February 4, 2005
Though the recent Indian Ocean tsunami had little do with climate change, it highlighted the vulnerability of the coastal areas of the region. As scientists anticipate rising sea levels in the coming decades, new strategies are needed to protect low-lying countries and small island states across the world. At the "Community Level Adaptation to Climate Change" in the Bangladeshi capital...

Preparing for a New Global Threat – Part II

Thomas Abraham January 28, 2005
Almost as quickly as scientists upgrade vaccinations, communicable viruses are adapting – by genetic mutation – to break through vaccine barriers and transmit faster. Thomas Abraham warns against a "biological tsunami" that is "brewing deep within the microbial world": avian influenza virus, or H5N1. Bird-to-human transmission was once believed impossible, but recently...