Fighting Corruption, One Zero-Rupee Note At A Time
DEVELOPMENTS Petty corruption is pervasive in India, where local officials demand bribes from ordinary citizens for the delivery of public services that should not…
Some Got Rich First--and Richer Later: The Uneven Nature of China's Economic Development
DEVELOPMENTS Over the last two months, a spate of violent attacks against schoolchildren in China’s eastern provinces has heightened authorities’ concerns about the…
The Respiratory Disease Capital of the World: What Guangdong Province May Mean for Health Policy in a Globalizing World
DEVELOPMENTS Guangdong Province in China is widely considered the primary point of origin for the Chinese Diaspora , as evidenced by the predominance of Cantonese…
Uzbekistan's Vanishing Civil Society: Why NGOs are shutting down as the country opens up
DEVELOPMENTS During a U.N. review of Uzbekistan’s human rights record last week, dialogue between the Human Rights Committee and the Uzbekistani state delegation…
A Crisis of Christianity: Why China’s most explosive religious movement worships underground
DEVELOPMENTS In one of her last actions as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice signed a statement identifying China as one of the worst violators of religious…
ASEAN's New Human Rights Commission: "Toothless Tiger" or Catalyst for Change?
DEVELOPMENTS At the fifteen annual summit this past October, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched the first regional human rights commission.…
China's Military Rise
DEVELOPMENTS On March 4th, China announced its intention to increase military spending next year by 17.6% to $59 billion. The increase is on top of last year’s…
China's Slow Growth Challenge
DEVELOPMENTS China has not been immune to the global economic downturn, but an influential report by the World Economic Forum now proclaims that China’s economic…
China's Total Recall
DEVELOPMENTS Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced a draft law designed to increase food safety on Wednesday. The new legislation comes in the wake of a…
Combating Human Trafficking in Timor-Leste
DEVELOPMENTS The fledgling government of Timor-Leste has made significant improvements to its interagency coordination of anti-human trafficking activities assisted…
Fool Me Once: Making Sense of North Korea’s Mixed Signals
DEVELOPMENTS When Laura Ling and Euna Lee flew back from 140 days of imprisonment in North Korea, it was hard not to feel elated and perhaps even hopeful for…
Historical Antagonism and the Future of Japan-ROK Relations
DEVELOPMENTS Since his rise to the power in February 2008, South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak has significantly alleviated the historical political and social…
Japan Opens the Way for Military Use of Outer Space
DEVELOPMENTS Japan’s Diet (legislature) passed a new Basic Law on Space on May 21st (the bill can be found in the index on-line here , and in pdf here ), which will…
Nepal's Lesson in Democracy
DEVELOPMENTS On July 21st, Nepal swore in its newest president , Ram Baran Yadav. But this inauguration is particularly noteworthy because it was the…
New Zealand's Energy Madness is Catching On
DEVELOPMENTS In 2004, Dr. Chris Mardon and Tom Mackenzie co-founded Energy Mad with the goal of reducing climate change through economical energy savings .…
No More Cheap Machines: Climate Change and China
DEVELOPMENTS We are now looking at a future climate that is beyond anything seriously considered in model simulations . Only a couple years ago, experts…
Nukes in North Korea
DEVELOPMENTS On October 12th, 2008, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said although US and Korean intelligence services estimate that although North…
Obama and the China Syndrome
DEVELOPMENTS President-elect Barack Obama already has considerable reason to worry about America's trade relationship with China. In November, China ran up a…
Pakistan's Wake
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a political rally on December 27, less than three months after returning from exile to run for…
SPECIAL FEATURE: Does Size Really Matter? Reflections on India's 15th General Elections
DEVELOPMENTS Though administered admirably and having produced a more stable ruling coalition government, India’s recently-concluded 15 th general election signals…
Sino-Indian Relations and the Search for the Next Dalai Lama
DEVELOPMENTS The People’s Republic of China has grown increasingly anxious about maintaining stability in its western regions, particularly Xinjiang and Tibet,…
Sovereign Wealth Funds
Sovereign wealth funds have bailed out some of Wall Streetsbiggest players. On January 15th the governments of Singapore,Kuwait and South Korea provided a $21…
The General and the President
After six years of serving as both General and President of Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf stepped down as army chief on November 28th. He has allowed both of…
The Rio Tinto Trial in China: A Miscalculation about Rule of Law?
DEVELOPMENTS Last summer, the billion dollar steel industry watched in rapt attention as China cracked down on one of its own. On July 5, 2009, Chinese…
The Roaming Rohingya: Stateless and Suffering in Myanmar
DEVELOPMENTS After meeting this May with Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel laureate Burmese democracy icon, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell said…
Tibet and the Dalai Lama
DEVELOPMENTS All eyes are on Beijing as it hosts the 2008 Olympic Games. Since winning the Olympic bid in 2001, Beijing has come under intense scrutiny for…
President Obama and the China Syndrome
DEVELOPMENTS President-elect Barack Obama already has considerable reason to worry about America’s trade relationship with China. In November, China ran up a…
Fashionistas Dress Down the Taliban – The Triple Assault
DEVELOPMENTS On November 4th, 2009, Fashion Pakistan launched the country’s first Fashion Week. The four-day event, taking place during an army offensive in South…
North Korea and the Sinking of the Cheonan Warship
BACKGROUND Tensions on the Korean peninsula are the highest that they have been in nearly two decades, following the intentional sinking of the South Korean…
The Great Nuclear Race in South Asia
DEVELOPMENTS On March 19, 1998 Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the Hindu-backed BJP parliamentary party was sworn in for the second time as India’s Prime Minister.…
Microfinance: Empowering Women, or Micro-Effective?
DEVELOPMENTS Without question, microfinance has become the feel-good charity movement du jour. The underlying premise that individuals can lift themselves out of…
Women’s Rights in Nepal: Big Changes, Broken Promises
DEVELOPMENTS Nepal is promising its citizens some big changes, but the reality is littered with broken promises. Unfortunately this is a pattern especially familiar…
High Drama in the West Sea: China Likely to Play Leading Role in Tempering Korean Shows of Aggression
DEVELOPMENTS North Korea’s recent artillery shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island killed two soldiers and two civilians, and has generated a frenzy of…
The Past and Future of U.S. Alliances in South Asia
DEVELOPMENTS The United States relies heavily on its allies to advance foreign policy priorities such as combating terrorism, conducting wars, and maintaining open…
Rahul Gandhi: Heir Apparent to the Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty
DEVELOPMENTS Indian media coverage of recent diplomatic dynamics centered on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks to the U.S. Ambassador to India that Hindu extremism could pose…
Prevention is the Best Policy: Why the U.S. Needs a Proactive Defense Strategy Against Chinese Cyberwarfare
DEVELOPMENTS Internet experts consider China to be one of the most active leaders in cyber espionage. According to one computer security company’s estimate , there…
China’s Pro-Isolationist Intentions: Beijing’s Curious Engagement With North Korea and Myanmar
DEVELOPMENTS China’s policies toward North Korea and Myanmar are a sharp departure from international consensus on how to deal with these regional outcasts. China…
Disconnected: Perils and Paradoxes of the Isolated Global Value Chain
DEVELOPMENTS We live in a world so complicated that few anticipated the financial crisis that crippled the world economy. Nothing stopped us from seeing the damage…
Japan, Shaken: Radiation Leaks and Economic Losses Continue to Rock the Country
DEVELOPMENTS More than three weeks since a magnitude 8.9 earthquake rumbled off the coast of Japan and sent 97-foot waves crashing inland, Japan’s Prime Minister…
The Disaster That Changed It All
DEVELOPMENTS It was the stuff of nightmares. Early morning on December 3rd, 1984, as an entire community slept their homes were invaded by a silent, lethal foe.…
Sufism, Pakistan, and the Battle for the Future of Islam
DEVELOPMENTS The killing of Osama bin Laden last month highlighted the fight underway over the direction of Islam in Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim world.…
China’s Military Rise
DEVELOPMENTS On March 4th, China announced its intention to increase military spending next year by 17.6% to $59 billion. The increase is on top of last year’s…
Fighting Corruption, One Zero-Rupee Note At A Time
DEVELOPMENTS Petty corruption is pervasive in India, where local officials demand bribes from ordinary citizens for the delivery of public services that should not…
Thailand’s Red Shirt Movement: The Battle for Bangkok
DEVELOPMENTS Months after the anti-government demonstrations ended on May 19th in Thailand, t he Thai government announced that it has frozen the assets of those it…
Interview with Poonam Bir Kasturi of the Daily Dump
The Daily Dump is a growing recycling business started by Poonam Bir Kasturi in Bangalore, India in 2006. In just four years, the Daily Dump has helped enable over…
Speak Softly and Carry a Big Wallet: China Flexes Economic Muscle in Regional Disputes
DEVELOPMENTS Last month, a Chinese fishing boat collided with two Japanese coastguard patrol ships off the coast of a small chain of uninhabited islands in the East…
No Longer Playing “Good Cop, Bad Cop?”: How North Korean Provocations May Drive China To Lay Down the Law
DEVELOPMENTS Amidst North Korean threats of retaliation, on December 20, South Korea pushed forward with military drills on Yeonpyeong Island. To the surprise of…
Inclusive Growth?–China Struggles to Reconcile Rising Wealth Disparities
DEVELOPMENTS Over the last three decades, China’s economic development has been nothing short of astounding. Since the government began its economic “opening and…
South Asian Billionaires Arrive on the Scene
DEVELOPMENTS No event exemplifies the rise of South Asia’s richest better than the grand housewarming party hosted by Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai in late 2010. Valued…
Explaining China’s Fascination With Jews
DEVELOPMENTS The Chinese admire the Jews for their five thousand years of history, ability to withstand persecution in scattered minority communities, and their…
The No-Party Talks
DEVELOPMENTS Whether the world is ready to admit it or not, non-proliferation in North Korea has failed. If Pyongyang were ever willing to give up its pursuit of…
Measuring Nuclear Weapon Capacity in India and Pakistan
DEVELOPMENTS Terrorist attacks in Mumbai on July 13, 2011 brought back to the forefront the issue of national security in South Asia. The bombings in India’s…