Courtesy: Lear21,ThomasWolf/Wikipedia
Germany’s abstention on the UN Resolution on Libya heralds the mellowing of a nation blamed for last century’s most catastrophic wars. This time, Berlin may determine the history of Europe by choosing to pursue its national interests peacefully rather than subjugating an entire populace.
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The 2008 financial collapse has economists pondering over the stability of global economies and the ability of those with financial power to maintain their wealth. If such a situation recurs, who will be held accountable?
Courtesy: UNPhoto/MarcoCastro
As the newest entrant of the BRICS group, South Africa's unpredictability in upholding the human rights dimension of its foreign policy agenda, by its stance to impose a ‘no fly zone’ over Libya, has brought about an incoherency between the BRIC countries and South Africa.
Courtesy: UNPhoto/MarcoDormino
A new United Nations doctrine is revolutionising the manner in which Western powers achieve regime change. Under the pretext of “Responsibility to Protect” –as the doctrine is named –armed intervention does not depend on the aspirations of a populace but the facilitation of existing power equations
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The fundamental problem when supporting an anti-regime opposition is to ascertain the identity and purpose of the rebels. It is a question –which M.D. Nalapat discovers –is never asked by the United States, no stranger to shoring up rebels in far-off countries.
Courtesy: Feb17.info
As the young protesters in Libya struggle to rewrite the contract between the people and their rulers to make them more accountable, the world is reacting in predictable ways.
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As the Arab world reinvents itself in real time, the rest of the world must begin to understand the region as something more than a source for oil and a market for armaments and consumer goods.
Courtesy: NinaAldinThune/Wikimedia
There are more than Western interests at play in Egypt. The other catalysts for the unrest are a combination of Iranian adventures, hypocritical policies of West Asian regimes and resurgent commodity speculation in western markets, triggering a rise in prices of basic items in emerging markets
Courtesy: SamanthaAppleton/WhiteHouse
Indo-US business dealings and the US Federal Reserve’s money-printing initiative may have saved Chinese President Hu Jintao the headache of explaining – to his American counterpart – China’s stealth fighter shocker, undervalued currency and giant trade surplus.
Courtesy: ChuckKennedy/WhiteHouse
Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US comes at a time when the geopolitical situation in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region is fluid - consequent to the US deciding to re-energise relations with countries in the region - and when Sino-US relations have been under some strain.