In The News

Talk Tough, Talk Quiet

Anita Pratap May 1, 2003
War hawks in Delhi are eager to use America’s war in Iraq as a model for a preemptive strike on Pakistan. Arguably, the situations are somewhat analogous: there have been instances of cross-border terrorism, some Pakistanis have cooperated with Al Qaeda, and India does not fear Pakistan has weapons of mass destruction – it knows they’re there. Author Anita Prajab argues that all of these...

Black Money Flowing Back to India

V. K. Raghunathan April 16, 2003
Since September 11 the US has cracked down on bank accounts that might be funding terrorists. It has even asked countries with secrecy laws to disclose information about account holders to help in its fight. An unintended consequence of this policy is that many Indians who have illegally stashed money outside of the country now fear discovery and prosecution, and have begun to bring their money...

Calling Elvis, Anybody Home?

Seema Sirohi March 7, 2003
Should American politicians emphasize economic efficiency to cut costs in government or should they first and foremost seek to protect US workers' jobs? As the economy continues to decline in the US, some people are saying that it's time to move American jobs back to America. Over the past several years Fortune 500 companies like GE and American Express have shifted a great deal of...

Massive MMA Rally Flays Iraq War

Tahir Hasan Khan March 3, 2003
When Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to cooperate with the United States to root out terrorists after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he alienated many conservative Pakistani Muslims. As the UN Security Council considers a second resolution about war in Iraq, Musharraf once again faces heat from Islamic groups at home. In a rally in Karachi that organizers called a “Million March...

Not Coming to a Theatre Near You…

Phil Reeves February 18, 2003
The tradition Bengalese drama form jatra has gained widespread popularity in India. Traveling acting companies, many of them from West Bengal, perform jatras (which include nonstop music, overwrought love songs, and elaborate pyrotechnics) to sold-out crowds. The art form is both entertainment and, for many in rural areas where illiteracy runs high and access to foreign news is limited, a way of...

Globalization: Concept and Concerns

C. Rangarajan January 6, 2003
Writing for The Hindu, India’s national newspaper, C. Rangarajan outlines the concept of economic globalization and its problems. One of the concerns of the current period of globalization is its connection to unequal distribution of wealth within and between countries. Looking at ‘developing economies,’ and at India in particular, Rangarajan examines the impact globalization has had so far and...

The Year After...

Tariq Rahman December 16, 2002
The global war on terrorism is creating less security on the local level and dimming the prospects for democracy in some areas of the world. That's the conclusion of Pakistani scholar Tariq Rahman in this year-end assessment of the violence and instability that characterized the world in 2002. "We in Pakistan have been affected very deeply," he writes. "Apart from the...