In The News

After Bhutto, Pakistan on Edge

Ahmed Rashid January 1, 2008
Pakistan grieves the sudden, yet foreseen death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a courageous woman who threatened the status quo. Urged by the US, Bhutto agreed to a power-sharing deal with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, if both won election. She vowed to end appeasement of extremists and cooperate with the US in pursuing all sources of terrorism, in and out of Pakistan. She...

Qaeda Network Expands Base in Pakistan

Carlotta Gall December 29, 2007
More than six years after the US declared a global war on terror, terrorism – in the form of the Al Qaeda network – continues to take root in Pakistan. The Pakistan government accuses the terrorist organization of assassinating Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan and a courageous voice on the dangers of religious extremism. “The expansion of Pakistan’s own militants and their...

Technology in India and China: Running Fast

November 16, 2007
Clocks, zero and paper – these and many other fundamental innovations emerged in Asia. Yet around the 15th century, the surge in Asian innovation tapered off. Scholars seek to explain sources for innovation and posit that leaders must provide incentives for progress; internal or external forces can give inventors a sense of purpose. Today, Asians are eager to pursue innovation through education...

Asia's Space Race

Dingli Shen November 13, 2007
Nearly four decades after the first man walked on the moon, Asia's major powers hurry in their own space race. China and Japan both recently launched spacecraft to the moon, and India has sent satellites into orbit since 1975. The latest missions and future ambitions raise eyebrows, particularly since China's January 2007 test, in which a rocket was used to destroy an old weather...

Exploiting Thailand’s Burmese Refugees

Jürgen Kremb November 12, 2007
The recent pro-democracy protests in Myanmar’s major cities overshadow the ongoing civil war raging near the border. Forcible conscription and the devastation of war have prompted an influx of refugees into neighboring Thailand. These illegal immigrants face formidable challenges, including corrupt police, unemployment and organized crime. Because of their illegal status, they cannot secure work...

India Holds Its Tongue on Pakistan

Amelia Gentleman November 9, 2007
India and Pakistan have engaged in three wars and ample animosity since 1947, when the two nations achieved independence from Great Britain. But the relationship between the two nuclear powers improved since 2004, with the start of peace talks, and so India’s response to recent turmoil in Pakistan has been cautious. Constitutional crisis has erupted in Pakistan as General Pervez Musharraf...

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Paula Newberg November 6, 2007
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president and army commander, declared martial law on November 3, 2007, anticipating the country's highest court ruling that he may not hold those two posts simultaneously. Some analysts call this his second coup. By shutting down media, lining streets with soldiers, arresting opposition politicians, suspending rights, firing the chief justice of the...