Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Mark Schneider, Senior Vice President at the International Crisis Group, says Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency violates the constitution and moves the country further from democracy. Plus, he's not even that good of a partner in the war on terror. The US ought to impose some conditions on Musharraf and support Pakistan's civil society and democratic institutions.
In attempting to hold on to power at any cost, Pervez Musharraf has alienated Pakistanis and precipitated a political crisis that could reverberate throughout the region. But in this unseemly effort the Pakistani president has found an important ally—the Bush administration.
Rafiq Dossani, Senior Research Scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center of Stanford University, acknowleged that by the measure of economic growth and international prestige, India is unquestionably “arriving” as a major global power. But when one considers other indicators—such as India’s non-market sector, widespread poverty, and social democracy—India’s arrival is not so obvious.
But the time for mere condemnation is over. It's time for America to cut the cord on Musharraf and throw in entirely with the country's democratic forces.
Asia’s resurgence is revolutionary; Asia will contribute 43% of world GDP by 2020, is the second global hub of innovation, and has amassed a tremendous amount of military power. But the resurgence is also incomplete. Large swaths remain outside of Asia’s economic “miracle,” political systems remain at various stages of development, and Asian nations face many religious and ideological challenges.
Edited by Ashley Tellis, with contributions by leading Asia specialists including Frederic Grare of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, this book, the seventh in NBR's strategic Asia series, examines the varied political transitions and internal changes occurring in pivotal Asian states and evaluates the impact on Asian foreign policymaking and strategy.
The argument that the ingredients for democracy and hunger for it are missing in Burma, is plain wrong. Also, the idea that Burma is multi-ethnic and hence needs autocracy to maintain stability is debunked by its giant neighbor, India. Missing from this argument justifying the junta in Burma is a crucial fact - the international community has supported the regime until the recent past.
Before the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud on September 9, 2001, suicide attacks were considered alien to Afghanistan. They began appear with regularity in 2005 and 2006 and are now commonplace. Christine Fair discusses her UNAMA report on the challenges of combating these attacks.
For the first time in nearly twenty years, Burma has burst into open protest against the military junta, captivating the world with its ‘saffron revolution.’