Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Sep 8 (IPS) – Amid continued high levels of violence and a steady stream of reports of high-level government corruption in Kabul, a growing number of foreign policy specialists are urging President Barack Obama to reconsider his counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy in Afghanistan. In a new [...]
ONE INDIA & ONE CHINA
September 9, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN The strong economic relations between India and China and their co-operation in multilateral fora such as the recent Copenhagen summit on climate change should not blind one to the fact that the trust and comfort level between the two Governments and their people remains unsatisfactory. Unless this improves, any [...]
Sri Lanka Shuns West, Finds Solace in Emerging Powers’ Arms
September 8, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, Sep 8, 2010 (IPS) – The European Union’s decision to suspend trade preferences for Sri Lankan exports may have finally come into force, but the island nation is not budging an inch on any of the powerful bloc’s recommendations on its controversial human rights [...]
ATTACKS ON SHIAS IN PAKISTAN, A MESSAGE TO IRAN TOO
September 5, 2010 By
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR–PAPER NO.674 Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ), which is an affiliate of Al Qaeda, have both claimed responsibility for the murderous attacks through suicide bombers on Shia processions during the holy fasting period at Lahore on September 1, 2010, and Quetta on September [...]
CULTURE-CHINA: Now Showing – Independent Films
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mitch Moxley BEIJING, Aug 27, 2010 (IPS) – While Hollywood blockbusters and state-funded historical epics continue to dominate China’s box office, a vibrant independent film scene is quietly growing. Lacking distribution channels that lead to wide audiences, these films, which tend to focus on aspects of day-to-day [...]
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: China Flexes Hydropower Muscle
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Aug 27, 2010 (IPS) – After all the turbines in the Xiaowan hydropower station sputtered to life this week in China’s south-west Yunnan province, the Asian giant was able to lay claim to having the world’s largest hydropower capacity. A "great leap forward" was [...]
INDIA: Activists Use Legal Weapons to Stop Thermal Power Plants
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Pankaj Sekhsaria HYDERABAD, India, Aug 27, 2010 (IPS) – Green activists have various ways of pushing their causes, from enlisting movie stars to launching protests, but India’s campaigners have also been quietly using legal weapons to try to get the projects they oppose, such as thermal plants, [...]
BEIJING TIGHTENS UP CONTROL OVER MONASTERIES & MOSQUES
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN Acting jointly, China’s Ministry of Public Security and the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China have tightened up their control over the Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan areas of China and over the mosques in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. While the [...]
Guarding Environment with a Paper-and-Pencil Project
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BANGKOK (IDN) – Asia-Pacific already has the largest number of motorized vehicles in the world and if the present trend continues, the region would in the coming years have more automobiles than Europe and North America combined. In Japan alone, the number of [...]
Asia Expects a New Decade in Sustainable Transport
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BANGKOK (IDN) – A new town of about 150,000 people is expected to sprout every day in the next 20 years in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing the urban population from 1.6 billion to 2.7 billion in 2030. This will also influence mobility patterns [...]
