Despite a formal alliance between Pakistan and the United States, the interests of the two governments are often in perfect contradiction. Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, has been accused by Mike Mullen of supporting the jihadist terror cell Haqqani in its October attack on the American embassy in Kabul. Furthermore, Osama bin Laden managed to … Read more
In his new year’s speech, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak claimed that the Korean peninsula was at a “turning point” and that there were “opportunities for change.” While he did not state this explicitly, he was clearly referring to the recent death of Kim Jong Il, the controversial despot of North Korea who ascended to … Read more
By this point, most have probably heard the news that Kim Jong-il is dead, and seen the countless videos of mourning citizens in hysterics. In the wake of the North Korean leader’s death, pundits and governments have been scrambling to reassess their strategy toward the hermit country. Most fundamentally, international observers are concerned with questions … Read more
The U.S. health care reform debate has been contentious so far; however, one thing everybody can agree on is that the issue of providing quality healthcare to the 300 some odd million people in the nation is a one of colossal proportions. Now imagine multiplying the number of people that needed healthcare by 5 while … Read more
On this past July 1st, I had the interesting experience of being in China for the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Upon finding out that this historic date would be occurring while I was in the country, I immediately envisioned a Beijing Olympic style celebration with the whole country egged and prodded to … Read more
Should Fukushima spell the end of the “nuclear renaissance”? I think not. As the world continues to watch the Fukushima crisis unfold, some are already heralding the end of the industry. Benjamin Sovacool, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, warns that the tragedy should finally provide enough justification to “stop the … Read more
A word of advice, Mr. Friedman: Let Singapore be Singapore, and America be America. Last month, Thomas Friedman wrote a glowing account of governance in Singapore. This, I believe, isn’t the first time Friedman has written positively of the nanny state; given the sorry state of U.S. government nowadays, the prospect of Singaporean-style authoritarianism does appear … Read more
Why an average case of Chinese corruption has become a national, internet-driven frenzy. With the recent conclusion of President Hu’s official state visit to the United States, it is a good time to assess what was actually accomplished during this meeting. Call me a cynic, but I never expected much from this summit in terms … Read more
Never in recent decades have tensions in the Korean peninsula been so high. North Korea’s recent artillery barrage against a South Korean island has caused the latter to raise its state of military readiness to its highest level short of war. Assuming the North’s artillery barrage had been calculated to occur shortly after its revelation … Read more
Among my American friends, I’ve not met a single person who hasn’t had some kind of reaction after watching this. Of the recent spate of anti-Chinese ads that’s been done (such as here and here), this one stands out as it points towards an uncomfortable truth: as the U.S. government continues to spend its way … Read more