Month: March 2010

The Topsy-Turvy Nature of South Asian Power Games

The strategic debates in Washington on the fortunes of Pakistan are undergoing a palpable degree of modification. The Obama administration has initiated a strategic dialogue. There is no reason for anyone to think that Pakistan will emerge as a strategic partner of India anytime soon; however, the fact that the Obama administration has decided to conduct such a dialogue speaks volumes about its earnest commitment to pragmatism. That might be viewed as bad news in India, largely because one of the many egregious rules of South Asia is the high relevance of the zero-sum game between India and Pakistan involving the United States.

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Iran: The Next Crisis

The United States has become well accustomed to imposing economic sanctions against any state that defies it. Such actions are taken without regard to how badly they affect the quality of life of the people in the sanctioned country. The cruel rationale in Washington is that, if people suffered the terrible consequences emanating from those sanctions, they would overthrow the existing government. When that did not happen, as in Iraq for instance, the administration of George W. Bush decided to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein through a military invasion.

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Nobel Peace Prize Award in the Future, Maybe, But Not Now

Written 11 Oct 09:

If any current world leader is entitled to win a prestigious award for his/her potential, then President Barack Obama is certainly one of them. However, there is no award for potential leadership, only for actual achievements as a leader. That makes the Nobel Prize Committee’s decision to award Obama the Nobel peace prize untimely, undeserving, and wrong.

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