Back to the cold war?
The US and the European Union have come out with fresh economic curbs on Russia in a bid to bring it to heel over the Ukrainian crisis. Does the Washington-Moscow…
Obama’s Asia ‘pivot’
What did President Barack Obama’s four-country tour of Asia signify? Was it a ‘reassurance’ visit to calm the anxieties of allies about America’s commitment to the region? An effort to…
Deterrence without illusions
As polling continues in India’s five-week long parliamentary elections, BJP leaders are showing growing confidence that their party will form the next government. Some opinion polls now suggest that the…
How the US made its Putin problem worse
In September 2001, as the US reeled from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Vladimir Putin supported Washington's imminent invasion of Afghanistan in ways that…
Our private sector
Budget cuts and sequestration have accelerated the growing interest in promoting international development through the private sector. As donor agencies reduce project spending and work within shorter time frames, they…
Pricing probe threatens Britain’s liberal energy market
An investigation of possible price collusion by British energy suppliers is likely to undermine the market framework that has helped make them more valuable than their European rivals. The probe,…
Ten ways the Ukraine crisis may change the world
As Moscow and the West dig in for a prolonged stand-off over Russia's annexation of Crimea, risking spillover to other former Soviet republics and beyond, here are 10 ways in…
No Policy Clarity
AT present, the pervasive characteristic of Pakistan’s security policies — regarding the TTP, Afghanistan and India — is reactive incoherence. TTP: Despite the TTP’s escalated violence, the government has persisted in…
West stumbles as autocratic force trumps economics
A quarter-century after the fall of the Soviet Union, authoritarian rulers such as Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad are showing they can and will defy international norms, suppress dissent and…
War fever
War fever is in the air. Fifty thousand Russian troops and armour are massed on Ukraine’s eastern border. Europe and Washington worry that the reborn Red Army may sweep west…
