|
|
 |
|
|
ATol is taking a break, we will next upload on
Monday, December 1.
Thailand
crashes and burns
The brazen occupation of Bangkok's international airport by anti-government
protesters takes Thailand's political conflict to a point of no return. The
relatively peaceful crisis is now on the brink of all-out violence. And the
longer the government refuses calls for it to step down, the greater the chance
of the military making a move. - Shawn W Crispin
(Nov 26,'08) |
|
Pyongyang floats a border bluff
The latest risky business from North Korea is the gamble that shutting the
South Korean border will freeze out Seoul and possibly wring better concessions
from the United States at next month's nuclear talks. North Korea is betting
the US won't jeopardize good news in President George W Bush's final days in
office by strongly supporting the South. - Donald Kirk
(Nov 25,'08)
Tibetans stick to the 'middle way'
The "middle way" approach, devised by Tibetan exiles in the 1980s, calls for
greater autonomy from China by non-violent means. After 20 years, it has
yielded few meaningful results. Even so, a special gathering of prominent Tibet
activists - minus the Dalai Lama - has decided to continue the strategy in
order to strengthen the political system of the exile community. - Denis
Burke (Nov 26,'08)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Weapons come second
Any new era in Pentagon spending would have to begin with a recognition that
enduring security is not attained by threat or fiat, nor is it bought with
staggering billions of dollars. It is built with other nations. Weapons come
second. - Frida Berrigan (Nov 26,'08)
BOOK REVIEW
Military reform 30 years on
America’s Defense Meltdown edited by Winslow T Wheeler
After reading this book one can only conclude that with the US military's
budget at some trillion dollars annually, and mismanagement and bureaucracy at
their highest levels since the Vietnam war, the time is ripe for major reform
in the Pentagon and the military-industrial complex. But the authors don't just
criticize, they also offer sober, detailed solutions. - David Isenberg
(Nov 26,'08) |
Closing time for India's Iranian
cafes
Famous for cranky admonishments and delectable baked goods, longstanding
Iranian cafes have literally been the cornerstones of Mumbai's cosmopolitan
milieu. Yet of the some 350 shops serving bun maska to faithful
customers in the 1950s, barely 25 survive. Time, and high real estates prices,
are taking their toll on one of Mumbai's most delicious traditions. - Raja
Murthy (Nov 26,'08)
SPEAKING FREELY
China's cyber-warriors challenge India
A new wave of Chinese cyber-warriors, numbering in the millions across the
globe, presents a threat to India's security. Chinese cyber-nationalism is a
powerful and dangerous tool that could be used to demoralize the Indian psyche,
giving China the opportunity to defeat India and redraw its borders according
to strategic interests without the need for a ground war. - Abanti Bhattacharya
(Nov 26,'08)
A brave new world awaits
Appointments by Barack Obama suggest the United States president-elect has a
firm grasp on the potential future outlined in US intelligence's latest peek
ahead to the year 2025. For one thing, his new economists seem well positioned
to manage "the unprecedented transfer of wealth from West to East". - David
Isenberg (Nov 25,'08)
Obama not a ghost of Clinton
past
President-elect Barack Obama's economic team includes some familiar faces,
attracting censure that too many come by way of experience with the governments
of former president Bill Clinton. Yet the manner in which Obama has set out his
intentions to remedy America's financial crisis should dispel any suggestion
that this is a Clinton lll administration. - Julian Delasantellis
(Nov 25,'08)
Geithner a balm for Japan's Clinton
trauma
Japan's experiences of dealing with Democratic presidents has given them cause
to be wary of the latest change in the White House. The appointment of
Japanese-speaking Timothy Geithner as the next Treasury secretary will go some
way to easing their concerns. - Kosuke Takahashi
(Nov 25,'08)
THE ROVING EYE
Bush comfortable on the SOFA
When Iraqi parliamentarians vote on Wednesday on whether or not to endorse a
security pact with the United States, many of them will not have had the
opportunity to study the finer points. Perhaps all they need to know is that
the Pentagon and President George W Bush are very comfortable with it. - Pepe
Escobar (Nov 25,'08)
IMF's double-edged rescue for
Pakistan
The International Monetary Fund's US$7.6 billion credit line will help Pakistan
avert an economic meltdown caused by the government's "trust deficit", but
analysts are afraid the harsh conditions linked to the deal could convert the
financial mess into a political crisis. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Nov 25,'08)
 SUN
WUKONG
Regions won't dance
to Beijing's tune
Controversial comments by the Communist Party chief of Guangdong province in
defiance of Beijing's plans to help small businesses ride out the financial
crisis could highlight power struggles in the party or political
ladder-climbing, but are more likely indicative of China's growing trend
towards regionalism. This places a huge question mark over the 20 million rural
migrant workers in the country's richest province. - Wu Zhong
(Nov 25,'08)
THE MOGAMO GURU
G-20 weenies on a golden
spit
The Washington summit of 20 leading industrialized nations promised to keep
spending money like mad instead of doing what should have been done, which was
to install a gold standard. Dumb!! But it means that price inflation is a
certainty, which is great for gold. Whee!!! (Nov
25,'08)
Balanced between Bali and Obama
President-elect Barack Obama's special relationship with key anti-terrorism
ally Indonesia gives him a head start in tackling the complex religious,
political and economic factors shaping the destiny of this strategic regional
actor. But it has also raised local expectations to giddy heights at a time
when the success of the nation's US-backed policy to root out extremists
remains in doubt. - Simon Roughneen (Nov
25,'08)
 SPENGLER
Obama's one-trick wizards
President-elect Barack Obama's prospective cabinet is being packed with bankers
who fouled their own nests and then secured bailouts from the US taxpayer. Now
they will be allowed to play with the federal government budget for the next
four years. If these one-trick leverage wizards are the best and the brightest
of 2008, America is in very deep trouble. (Nov
24,'08)
US military ripe for a fight with
Obama
President-elect Barack Obama inherits a chasm of mistrust between the Pentagon
and the White House, regardless of whether Defense Secretary Robert Gates stays
on. First, Obama has to avoid a confrontation over the "don't ask, don't tell"
policy on the sexuality of the forces. Then there are the deep splits sparked
by the difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan: the counter-insurgency advocates
who feel besieged by the proponents of the "AirLand Battle" doctrine, aside
from those who favor post-combat "nation-building". - Mark Perry
(Nov 24,'08)
COMMENT
A new spin on Iran's nuclear fuel
The latest anti-Iran spin is that Tehran already has enough nuclear fuel for
one bomb and that its nuclear capability will increase substantially in the
near future. Combined with the "Clintonization" of the incoming Barack Obama
administration, there is little chance of a major change in Washington's Iran
policy while it remains influenced by the wheels of the "Fourth Estate". - Kaveh
L Afrasiabi (Nov 24,'08)
INTERVIEW
Taliban not talking peace
Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani
 The
close adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Omar categorically rules out any notion
that the Taliban are a part of - or even plan to be - any peace process over
Afghanistan. It is all propaganda aimed to weaken the Taliban and their jihad,
Hasan Rahmani tells Syed Saleem Shahzad. And the Taliban will continue
their policy of attacking the supply lines of coalition forces.
(Nov 24,'08)
Last-minute scramble over Iraq's
pact
Iraq's controversial Status of Forces Agreement with the United States, which
calls for withdrawal of all US troops by 2011 yet gives the US long-term
privileges, has divided Iraqi politics like never before. If parliament fails
to reach consensus on Wednesday, a delay may deepen divisions among Shi'ites,
Kurds and Sunnis. There are still many deals to be cut before this unpopular
pact goes through. - Sami Moubayed (Nov
24,'08)
More turmoil in beleaguered
Bangkok
Thousands of anti-government protesters laid siege to government offices and
police headquarters in Bangkok on Monday, even as embattled Thai Prime Minister
Somchai Wongsawat announced he would neither resign nor disperse demonstrations
by force. Instead, a highly anticipated high court ruling may bring a
legalistic end to the escalating conflict. - Shawn W Crispin
(Nov 24,'08)
Great game of hunting pirates
Under the rubric of the fight against sea piracy, an entirely different
template of maritime activity is taking place by interventionist powers. The
United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union
have stepped out of the European theater and entered the Indian Ocean, as has
India. Russia is seeking a reopening of its Soviet-era naval base in Aden.
There is a strong suspicion a great game is unfolding. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Nov 21,'08)
The black hole in financial
markets
Americans are beginning to understand how much of their economy depended on the
housing bubble. The collapse of housing prices has led to a collapse of
consumer spending, which leads to a rise in unemployment, which in turn erodes
the value of commercial property - and so the destruction of wealth spreads.
Barack Obama will take office as the most powerful peacetime president in US
history - he will be the only man in town with a checkbook. - David P Goldman
(Nov 21,'08)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Stuff happens in Iraq
The United States military has the ultimate argument against a reasonable
withdrawal from Iraq. Its strength lies in that it has nothing to do with the
vicissitudes of Iraqi politics, the relative power of Shi'ites or Sunnis, the
influence of Iran, or even the riptides of war. It is the simple fact that
logistically there is so much "stuff" in Iraq that withdrawal would take at
least three years. - Tom Engelhardt (Nov
21,'08)
BOOK REVIEW
Political whores go biblical
Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl by Tracy Quan
This saucy diary rises like a French bedroom souffle, baked at a high heat,
Provence style. But it is often more perspicacious than sexy, using a galaxy of
well-drawn characters to passionately tease out the real human emotions and
politics of sex work. It also juxtaposes these realities with biblical
introspection on Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of all call girls, even ones
with $2,500 handbags and Manhattan banker husbands. - Muhammad Cohen
(Nov 21,'08)
SPEAKING FREELY
The evil of the US dollar
The failures of the Western economic model, based on a banking system tied to a
fiat currency, are now evident for all to see - and suffer. An alternative does
exist. - Asif Salahuddin (Nov
20,'08)
The jolly life of a pirate ring
Through guile, fearlessness and terror, a ragtag bunch of modern-day buccaneers
from impoverished Somalia is defying the world's great navies, pillaging
merchant ships at will, and tightening its grip on essential trade lines to
Europe and Asia. The world, despite its romantic notions of free-wheeling
pirate kings, has had enough. Is it time for a "Captain Jack Sparrow wing at
Guantanamo"? (Nov 20,'08)
The US strikes deeper in Pakistan
The missile attack on Wednesday by a United States Predator drone on a village
in North-West Frontier Province is of extreme importance, not so much because
it might have killed members of al-Qaeda's inner council, but because it is the
first such action outside of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas. The US is
now taking the fight to the militants, wherever they might be. The next stop is
the cities. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Nov
20,'08)
Asia held hostage on the high seas
It has been centuries since armed robbery on the high seas has taken on the
dramatic geopolitical dimensions it has today. But piracy is back, and the
brazen recent successes of Somali buccaneers has shocked governments and
navies, and thrown oil companies and shipowners into panic. As this week's
hijacking of a Saudi oil supertanker shows, the risk of pillage and plunder is
getting worse, and leaders from Japan to South Korea to Hong Kong and India
want action to protect their trade routes. - Keith Wallis
(Nov 19,'08)
Japan economists call for 'Obama
bonds'
The prospect of the United States seeking to repay its vast and fast-increasing
debt obligations in a devalued dollar is prompting Japanese economists to call
for the issue of US Treasuries in other currencies, such as the yen. If Jimmy
Carter could take a similar step, why not Barack Obama? - Kosuke Takahashi
(Nov 18,'08)
A CHANGE OF
BALANCE, Part 2
The party's
beginning
Emerging countries, particularly those in Asia, have a brighter chance of
making government intervention work if only because of higher profit potential
and the low level of debt relative to potential gross domestic product. This is
the crux of the argument of turning the world around, not the well-worn ideas
of propping up the leading industrialized countries. - Chan Akya
(Nov 14,'08)
This concludes a two-part report.
 Part 1:
The party's
over
|
|
|
 CHAN
AKYA
Debt
cold turkey
Perhaps the worst thing you can tell a bankrupt person on a festive day such as
Thanksgiving is that worse is yet to come. That precisely is what is in store
for people across the global economy as deleveraging will continue to devour
every scrap thrown at it by well-meaning but useless government officials
around the world.
Putin saves Abramovich's
US safe haven
A reported US$1.8 billion loan by a Russian state bank chaired by Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin will help Roman Abramovich's Evraz Group pay debts
acquired to buy steel assets in North America. The assets' value has been hit
by the economic downturn - but they remain a safe haven beyond the reach of
Moscow's nationalizing instincts. - John Helmer
Euro-Caspian energy
plans inch forward
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have agreed on the main principles that will allow
Kazakh oil to be pumped via Baku to southern Turkey to supply European and
other markets, bypassing Russia. Georgia is also to benefit from Caspian energy
suppliers striking out from Moscow's embrace. - Robert M Cutler
Bakrie looks exposed
in meltdown
The plummeting fortunes of Indonesian conglomerate Bakrie Brothers have drawn
renewed attention to the close ties between industry and politics in the
country in the run-up to the 2009 presidential election. - Jacqueline Hicks
FROM THE BLOG
Risk on the 'many' side
The scale of the United States authorities' new obligations, and attendant
risks, put us in the position of the tribe that could count "one, two, three,
and many". The recent gold price rise, modest so far, is a warning of the
heightened risk of the world economy blowing up. - David P Goldman
|
|
|
Spengler's latest essay,
Obama's one-trick wizards [Nov 24], is just brilliant - really
extraordinary, and dead-on. Word for word, sentence for sentence, it's
precisely what I would have written - if only I had your brains. Really, great
job.
Herb Meyer
The article, A
Buddhist messiah in Maoist Nepal? [Nov 14], was quite informative as
well as being inspiring to all Buddhists and peace-loving people around the
globe. The contributors of the article are to be thanked and appreciated.
Dibakar Pant
St Paul, USA
|
| Go
to Letters to the Editor |
On The Edge
[Re Bush
comfortable on the SOFA, Nov 25] US interests are best served by
staying, which [US President George W] Bush's lackluster attempts at achieving
a SOFA with the Iraqis has at least managed to prove doable. The US will remain
in Iraq and diplomatically engaged in the Middle East with Arabs and Persians
for a long time to come.
Robster
|
| Go
to the readers' forum topic,
SOFA
|
|
ATol Specials
|
 |
|
VIDEO
Taliban's new breed of leader
(May '08) |
|
|
 |
|
The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
|
Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
|
 |
|
How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
|
|
|
 |
|
Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
|
|
|
 |
|
China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
|
|
 |
|
The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
|
|
 |
|
A series
by Henry C K Liu
|
|
 |
|
Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
|
|
 |
|
Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
|
|
 |
|
Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
|
|
 |
|
By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
|
|
 |
|
Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
|
|
 |
|
Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
Copyright 1999 - 2008 Asia Times Online
(Holdings), Ltd.
|
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road,
Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
