In The News

IT-Savvy Army Takes Modi’s Campaign to New Levels

Victor Mallet May 19, 2014
Candidates who gain the early support of young workers in the IT and finance industries can distribute their messages far and wide. High-tech projectors and satellite dishes allowed Narendra Modi, now India’s prime minister-designate, to address more than 100 simultaneous meetings each night. “The nationwide deployment of 10-foot high holograms of Mr Modi – requiring scores of shipping containers...

India’s Shinzo Abe

Brahma Chellaney May 16, 2014
Indian voters have handed a landslide victory to the Bharatiya Janata Party, ushering in Narendra Modi as prime minister. For the first time in 30 years, India will not need to hobble together a coalition government. Brahma Chellaney, of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, compares Modi to Japan’s Shinzo Abe: “Like Abe, Modi is expected to focus on reviving India’s economic fortunes...

China’s Push in the South China Sea Divides the Region

Murray Hiebert May 15, 2014
China has moved a huge oil exploration rig in disputed waters claimed by Vietnam. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations is divided over how to react, writes Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Nations quarrel over small groups of islands to control fishing and potential energy deposits. Despite pleas from members like Vietnam to recognize the...

Status in the New Asia

Roger Cohen May 14, 2014
The desire to feel special is a universal quality among humans. People who no longer must worry about survival and security pursue status in varying ways including wealth, knowledge, purpose or notice. The notion that globalization equals homogenization is too simple, argues Roger Cohen, in his column for the New York Times. “‘Mass’ is becoming a problematic word in the global marketplace,” he...

China Flexes Its Muscles in Dispute With Vietnam

Jane Perlez and Rick Gladstone May 9, 2014
China and Vietnam tussle over disputed waters in the South China Sea reached a new stage when backed by a flotilla of 80 vessels China moved a large drilling rig. Vietnam deployed 35 ships to block the Chinese rig leading to ramming and use of water cannon. The actions rattled stock markets in Vietnam. “Political and economic historians said the China-Vietnam tensions signaled a hardening...

Central Demands

Nayan Chanda May 8, 2014
Corruption and economic stagnation go hand in hand, and voters in India are hungry for change, suggests Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online. But big challenges – including a lack of jobs for the young, budget deficits, inflation and a regulatory morass – along with the need for coalition partners could delay change. “The formation of a new government may well alleviate some investor...

Yingluck’s Out. Now What, Thailand?

May 7, 2014
Polarization and a rural-urban divide are paralyzing Thai politics. A court removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, opening “a new and dangerous chapter in the implacable eight-year struggle between an amalgam of royalists, businessmen and the Bangkok elite, on one side, and the political empire headed by Yingluck’s brother, fugitive tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, on the other,” reports Asia...