China striking hard in Tibet
Chinese authorities are keeping a watchful eye on Tibet, wary of a repeat of last year’s demonstrations and riots. The recently initiated “Strike Hard” campaign adds to the pool of evidence that Beijing has no interest in engaging with the Dalai Lama to reach a negotiated solution to the Tibet problem.
New priorities in Sino-American relations
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Asia suggests that Sino-American relations during the Obama administration will be characterized by a move to ignore the thornier issues of Taiwan and human rights in an effort to achieve closer co-operation in the economic, military, and environmental fields.
PLA Navy
A confidential report that was mistakenly posted on the internet by the US Office for Naval Intelligence suggests that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) has been making rapid progress on a variety of modern weapon platforms.
Mutiny in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s two-month old democratic government may fall to a military coup as a result of a border guard mutiny this past week that killed an estimated 148 people.
OPINION: Revolutionary Democracy
Though the list of countries being swept up in a wave of popular uprisings is long and getting longer, pro-democracy activists the world over would be wise to hold off their own celebrations. The wave of ‘people power’ spreading through the Middle East and Africa could just as easily end up hindering international democracy as it could helping it.
India Jihadi Groups Splinter as Rivalries Intensify
The rivalry between Al Qaeda, Islamic State, and Lashkar-e-Taiba is intensifying on the Indian subcontinent.
ANALYSIS: Pulling out from Iraq
August 3rd, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - As expected, President Obama has confirmed that August 31st will mark an end to combat operations in Iraq. However, it is commonly accepted that his announcement is more about honoring campaign promises than reacting to the reality on the ground in Iraq.
ANALYSIS: Israel-Lebanon border clashes
August 4th, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - An exchange of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border has killed five people, raising fears of a repeat of Israel’s 2006 campaign against Hezbollah.
China and India: River Wars in the Himalayas
The Geopoliticalmonitor’s Amitava Mukherjee examines the potential impact of China’s dam projects upstream of the key Brahmaputra River in northeastern India.
ANALYSIS: German economic growth
August 13th (Geopoliticalmonitor) - A weak euro has allowed Germany to post its highest quarterly growth since unification.