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U.S. Senator John Kerry will officially take office as the Secretary of State, later this month, replacing Hillary Clinton. Given his background of foreign policy, and his proven competency in related matters, what can India and South Asia look forward to, during his term in his new office?
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Despite heavy opposition from several factions, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s propositions for altering the constitution have been approved. Although the alterations have democratic elements, the liberals and secularists bear responsibility in taking forward Egypt’s journey to complete democracy.
India’s governance and newest social revolution, led by the country’s youth and middle class, is being watched by the world. But will the incumbent government be able to respond with emotion and convert the movement into tangible policies and institutionalise them? Manjeet Kripalani blogs
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Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, returned to office for an unprecedented fourth term. With this victory, the fate of India’s two national political parties has changed, and the battles within and without will play out over next few months leading up to the national elections in 2014.
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Rivals Iran and Egypt have become the two most important powers in today’s West Asia. Yet, Iran is looking for neither a smooth victory nor a quick failure for Egypt’s rise. Tehran will remain the key regional player, while it’s too early to tell if Cairo is capable of overcoming Iran’s influence.
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Rising income inequality, corruption and the ouster of former Politburo member Bo Xilai from the Chinese Communist Party were all significant aspects of China’s 18th Party Congress. However, the new leadership has committed to reforms and repeated that increased economic growth will be achieved.
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U.S. President Barack Obama will certainly have the benefit of continuity in his second term, but he has a range of impending crises to address immediately - be it to avert the so-called fiscal cliff before the end of the year when automatic cuts kick in or plan for the military drawdown from Afghanistan.
The changing American demography worked in favour of the Democrats, but winning a re-election may be the easy part for U.S. President Barack Obama. He must now craft an agenda adequately bipartisan to pass legislation addressing the country economic issues.
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Though U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected by a generous vote, he will continue to face the legislative gridlock of the past two years. How he acts in the coming weeks will tell us whether there is a newly-revitalised President in town, or the same one the world has got to know in the last four years.
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The electoral races in the US reflect the split down the middle in political affiliations of the people. Yet, no major change is expected. This election is about whether the wealthy in the United States can be asked to pay taxes at the same if not slightly higher rates as the middle class.