Rajinder Puri: Quest for a talking point
ON 14 February, just before the India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level meeting took place, this scribe wrote why the talks should be held. He laid down a basic condition for the talks to proceed in the future, and if that was not met he suggested that all efforts for future dialogue should end. He wrote: “There are elements in the Pakistani [...]
Dilip Hiro: Compete And Cooperate
While there is a broad consensus about the relative decline of the US as a superpower, political commentators have debated about emerging political rivalries. A study of recent events, however, shows that instead of a straightforward bipolar or multipolar relationship, simultaneous cooperation and competition will be the likely template of [...]
Vaiju Naravane: New Franco-Russian rapprochement
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has clearly decided to forget his earlier strident and principled declarations about Russia, Chechnya and human rights and cosy up to Moscow. During Russian President Dimitri Medvedev's visit to Paris on Monday, the two countries took their relationship to a new level of understanding, with Paris opening [...]
In On The Great Game
Throughout the 19th century, Russia and Britain sparred for control of Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan. The "Great Game" ended in stalemate. The Afghans remained fiercely independent. As the saying goes, you can rent a Pathan but you can't buy one. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and new national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon the same [...]
New Think and Old Weapons
Every four years the White House issues a “nuclear posture review.” That may sound like an anachronism. It isn’t. In a world where the United States and Russia still have more than 20,000 nuclear weapons — and Iran, North Korea and others have seemingly unquenchable nuclear appetites — what the United States says about its arsenal [...]
Georgia continues to pose “direct and immediate threat”
In August 2008, Russia had its own Kargil. On the night of August 7-8 the former Soviet state of Georgia launched an assault on its breakaway region of South Ossetia killing dozens of Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region. Russia responded with a devastating counter-strike that routed the Georgian military. For all their differences, [...]
Christopher Swann: Bugging the gold bugs
Gold continues to develop an illustrious hedge fund fan base. George Soros, for instance, doubled his holdings during the last quarter of 2009. But, enthusiasts for the yellow metal should be perturbed by the waning interest from central banks. Soros is in the company of hedge fund luminaries such as John Paulson, Paul Tudor Jones and David [...]
V.R. Krishna Iyer: For Indo-Pakistan concord
Who but the justices of the sub-continent will tell the governing classes of India and Pakistan to go for an “ephphatha” to make both countries listen to possible settlement measures as an urgent desideratum for survival and development? (Ephphatha is an Aramaic word that means “to be opened.”) We are ready for peace talks, India had [...]
Ajai Shukla: Israel develops capabilities, India pays
For many Indian commentators, especially those on the right, Israel provides an inspiring example of how to deal with external threat. One could equally argue that notwithstanding its comfortable position as the regional hegemon, Israel and its citizens remain insecure, xenophobic and afflicted by a disturbing sense of victimhood. It’s a debate [...]
Time’s Up
Over the last four years, the United Nations Security Council has repeatedly demanded that Iran stop producing nuclear fuel. Iran is still churning out enriched uranium and has now told United Nations inspectors that it is raising the level of enrichment — moving slightly closer to bomb-grade quality. President Obama was right to offer to [...]