In The News

Nepal Steps Up Rescue Effort Amid Global Aid Rush

April 27, 2015
Foreign aid is streaming into Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that left thousands injured and dead and devastated property. Thousands more are without shelter. “The first nations to respond were Nepal's neighbours – India, China, and Pakistan, all of which have been jockeying for influence over the landlocked nation,” reports Al Jazeera. The political...

Indonesia’s Joko Loses the Economic Plot

April 24, 2015
President Joko Widodo had campaigned with promises of economic reform and shared prosperity for Indonesians, yet the business community is concerned about a new wave of protectionist policies. The Asia Sentinel suggests that recent government policies contrast with a message relayed at a recent international conference that Indonesia welcomes foreign investment. “From moves to force banks and...

The Evolving Jihad in South Asia

Arif Rafiq April 10, 2015
Improving ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan threatens extremists in both nations and in the neighborhood: “Pakistani Taliban factions are closing ranks; al-Qaeda aims to subvert peace talks between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban; and jihadists connected to the Islamic State appear to be seeking to establish a foothold in the region through sectarian violence,” writes strategic political and...

China-Pakistan: A Strategic Relationship in the Shadows

Andrew Small April 7, 2015
China and Pakistan share a border of just 523 kilometers but are the strongest of neighbors. An on-again off-again trip to Pakistan by China’s President Xi Jinping does not tell the real story. “This is a relationship where the public theatrics have generally been a poor indicator of the underlying substance,” writes Andrew Small, author and a transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund’s...

Tree-Felling Fiasco: Symptom of a Deep-Rooted Problem

Thu Huong Le March 30, 2015
Hundreds of old trees were cut down in Hanoi, instantly destroying the capital’s beauty, character and sense of continuity. Vietnamese immediately turned online to express shock and outrage. More than 6,700 trees on 200 streets, many a legacy of the French colonial period, were slated for cutting to make way for new infrastructure projects. Without consulting residents, the government set out on...

Danger From the East: Bangladeshi Extremists Target India

Saroj Kumar Rath March 26, 2015
Some political parties try courting extremists, urging them to target political opponents. “Violent street contests between the cadres of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s Awami League and former Prime Minister Khalida Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party are weakening the country’s nascent democracy and ceding space to extremist groups,” writes historian and author Saroj Kumar Rath. “The...

Anchor, With Prudence

Nayan Chanda March 20, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nations of Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the Seychelles demonstrates India’s renewed interest in reclaiming influence over the broad Indian Ocean region. “Modi’s initiative is indeed a first and long overdue push-back against the notion of China’s inexorable ascendancy in the Indian Ocean, but New Delhi is a long way from countering Beijing’s growing...