CHINA: Gov’t in Quandary Over Attempts to Block Japan’s U.N. Bid

The rise of anti-Japanese sentiment in China ahead of a United Nations September vote on Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the world body's prestigious Security Council, has put Beijing in a difficult position. As a Security Council member itself, it is in a quandary on how to vote while balancing fiercely nationalistic public opinion with long-term interests.

RELIGION: Why India Grieves for Pope John Paul II

There is much more to the three-day official mourning India has ordered for Pope John Paul II than the fact that this country's most powerful politician, Sonia Gandhi is both a Roman and a Catholic by birth.

POLITICS-SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Regional Grouping Turns Screws on Burma

The rumblings spreading through South-east Asian capitals against Burma's military regime is taking on the quality of a long overdue confession - namely that a political principle considered sacroscant by the region's governments has failed.

TSUNAMI-IMPACT: Communities Play Vital Role in Disaster Mitigation

Although science and technology offer time-tested early warning systems to detect deadly tsunamis, countries that share the Indian Ocean are learning fast about the pivotal role the public and local communities can play to save lives.

POLITICS: U.S. Arms Offer Threatens Stability in South Asia

When the United States decided to sell 12 sophisticated F-16 fighter planes to Indonesia about 10 years ago, the London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International did not raise its customary objection to the sale of lethal equipment to a politically repressive regime.

POLITICS-AMERICAS: Washington Focuses on Southern ‘Axis of Evil’

While U.S. President George W. Bush played nice to a deeply frustrated Mexican President Vicente Fox at the North American Summit Wednesday, U.S. media attention was focused on Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld's efforts to sound the alarm against Latin American troublemakers.

POLITICS-AMERICAS: Washington Focuses on Southern "Axis of Evil"

While U.S. President George W. Bush played nice to a deeply frustrated Mexican President Vicente Fox at the North American Summit in Texas Wednesday, U.S. media attention was focused more on Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld's efforts to sound the alarm against Latin American troublemakers in his swing through the region this week.

POLITICS-BRAZIL: Rumsfeld, Chavez and Haiti – A Difficult Balancing Act

Haiti and Venezuela have emerged as the most sensitive foreign policy concerns for Brazil, as it seeks the sometimes conflicting dual roles of Latin American leadership and a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

POLITICS: EU Decision to Delay China Arms Sales Big Win for Bush

The apparent decision by European leaders to delay the lifting of their 16-year-old arms embargo on China beyond June marks a clear-cut foreign policy victory for U.S. President George W. Bush, who made the issue a major priority in his visit to Europe last month.

POLITICS: Dragon Lady Rice Sheds ‘Scholar’ Image to Take On China

Chinese analysts had already sized up Condoleezza Rice before she made her first official visit to China this week as U.S. secretary of state.

POLITICS-US: Pentagon Reaffirms Globocop Role

March has been a bad month for the world's multilateralists who, encouraged by several early appointments to the State Department and a successful presidential tour of Europe, had hoped that George W. Bush would temper his unilateralist instincts in his second term.

AFRICA: How Much Chewing Gum Will Save a Continent?

All that is needed from the rich to save Africa is the price of ''half a stick of chewing gum a day from everyone,'' rock star and now star Africa activist Bob Geldof declared Friday.

INDONESIA-MALAYSIA: From Gunboat Diplomacy to Talks Over an Island

The friendship between the Indonesia and Malaysia has been strained in recent weeks over a disputed island off Indonesia's Kalimantan province.

INDONESIA-MALAYSIA: From Gunboat Diplomacy to Talks Over an Island

From Medan to Jakarta, Yogakarta, Surabaya, Solo and Batam, right across this vast archipelago Indonesian 'konfrontasi' or confrontation volunteer militias are undergoing martial arts training to attack what they call ''arrogant Malaysia''.

MEDIA-MIDEAST: The Artful Bloggers

The growth of personal websites, known as "blogs", in the greater Middle East is raising questions about whether this technology will eventually become the area's "new, new media" and provide an antidote to the one-sided "news" carried by government-controlled presses.

SOUTH ASIA: Maoist Deal with Nepal’s Political Parties May Doom Monarchy

A new deal in the offing between Nepal's main political parties and Maoist rebels has the potential not only of returning the Himalayan kingdom to democracy but also ending a constitutional monarchy that has so far enjoyed New Delhi's support.

POLITICS-U.S.: Ultimate Bush Insider Joins Rice at State Department

The most intriguing aspect of U.S. President George W. Bush's nomination of Karen Hughes to take charge of Washington's public diplomacy apparatus - and particularly outreach to the Islamic world - is the building out of which she will be working.

RIGHTS: Hard for Nepal to Find Friends in Geneva

At the annual U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geveva last year, Nepal's royal government narrowly escaped tough measures for its appalling rights record, courtesy of the United States and India.

POLITICS-U.S.: Unipolarity Re-Affirmed

Just one week ago, conventional wisdom both here and in European capitals was that President George W. Bush's second term would see a modest turn toward multilateralism and a new readiness to compromise on key issues with traditional U.S. allies.

POLITICS-US: Unipolarity Re-Affirmed

Just one week ago, conventional wisdom both here and in European capitals was that President George W. Bush's second term would see a modest turn toward multilateralism and a new readiness to compromise on key issues with traditional U.S. allies.

POLITICS-THAILAND: A ‘Humane’ Thaksin After a Second Mandate?

As he began his second term in office, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra displayed a flair for the art of magic by revealing himself in the image of a leader who cares about human rights.