ECONOMY-CARIB: Countries’ Struggles for Stability Set to Continue

Jamaica, Dominica and other Caribbean nations struggling to improve their economic outlook, look certain to face an increasingly unfriendly global environment and ever-mounting challenges in the years ahead.

POLITICS-U.S.: Strong Must Rule the Weak, said Neo-Cons’ Muse

Is U.S. foreign policy being run by followers of an obscure German Jewish political philosopher whose views were elitist, amoral and hostile to democratic government?

POLITICS-NEPAL: Volatile Days Ahead a Key Test for Monarchy

Nepal's King Gyanendra faces the sternest test ever in the face of the battlecry against monarchy, which has been rising since he assumed executive powers seven months ago and is now reaching a peak.

IRAQ: Next Target: Iran?

With Iraq under U.S. occupation and Syria shaken by a series of high-level threats from the administration here, Iran is now looming as a major target for U.S. pressure.

IRAQ: Who’s in Charge in Washington?

One day after U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed victory in the war against Iraq from the flight deck of a homeward-bound aircraft carrier off San Diego, the war between the Pentagon and the State Department seemed to be raging as furiously as ever.

MIDEAST: Saudi-U.S. Realignment Political, Not Military, Strategy

The ''mutual agreement'' to end U.S. military operations in Saudi Arabia is a win-win formula guided at one level by political considerations and at another level by a warning to Riyadh that it should cooperate better in the ''war against terror'' at another.

POLITICS-U.S.: Bush Commitment to Mideast Road Map Doubtful

Will President George W. Bush follow in his father's footsteps after a previous military victory against Iraq and exert serious pressure on Israel to implement the ''road map'' to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that was released by the State Department on Wednesday?

POLITICS-ASIA: India, Pakistan, China ‘Encircling’ One Another

India and its neighbouring nuclear rivals and military allies, Pakistan and China working in tandem, are busy weaving a complex web of treaties, defence alliances and covert agreements with South, Central and East Asian nations to strategically '' encircle '' one another.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Suspension of Talks Puts Ceasefire to Test

By pulling out of this month's round of peace talks, the Tamil Tigers have forced a 14-month old ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the rebels to face its sternest test.

NEPAL: Time to Address Roots of Maoist Rebellion, Say Experts

Conventional wisdom has it that Nepal's Maoist rebellion emerged due to years of neglect of the rural countryside, widespread corruption and nepotism in government and political instability in the years after multi-party democracy was established in April 1990.

IRAQ: Mideast Nuclear Weapons Free Zone a Non-Starter

When U.S. President George W. Bush recently enunciated his new military doctrine of ”pre-emptive” strikes on countries developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), he specifically warned Iraq, Iran and North Korea to clean up their acts or face dire consequences.

IRAQ: Israel Perhaps the Major Beneficiary of U.S.-led Invasion

It is the U.S.-led forces that occupy Iraq after invading it more than a month ago, but the biggest beneficiary of Gulf War III - without firing a bullet - is Israel, say Middle East analysts.

IRAQ: U.S. Neo-Conservatives Launch War at Home

Only a week after U.S. military forces consolidated their control of Baghdad, a new war has broken out, this time in Washington.

IRAQ: Occupied Nation Proposed as Mideast Hub for U.S. Military

Reports that the administration of President George W. Bush is planning to establish and maintain as many as four military bases in Iraq for an extended period of time are likely to intensify the negative feelings of Iraqis about the U.S. invasion of the country, say regional experts here.

POLITICS: Europe Grows in Size, Not Strength

The European Union has taken a historic step to branch eastward to touch Russia and Lebanon. That makes it large and populous enough to be a superpower rivalling the United States, but it may still end up as only a paper tiger.

CUBA-US: The Vicious Circle

Gradual progress towards an easing, and eventual lifting, of the four-decade U.S. embargo against Cuba was cut short this month by the stiff sentences handed down to 75 dissidents and the execution of three men who hijacked a ferry and took hostages in a frustrated bid to sail to Florida.

IRAQ: U.S. Takes Tentative Steps to Transform Region

With virtually all of Iraq now under U.S. military control, the administration of President George W. Bush is contemplating its next steps both within the country and in the region as a whole.

DEVELOPMENT-CHINA: SARS Exposes Weaknesses of Health System

When China's newly inaugurated leaders pledged last month to devote their energy to helping the poor and downtrodden, little did they know that they would run straight into a challenge that would test this commitment.

IRAQ: U.S. Faces Uphill Battle to Lift U.N. Sanctions

The much-publicised looting of television sets and furniture from several shops in Baghdad last week was ''chicken feed”, says a cynical Arab diplomat with tongue firmly entrenched in cheek. ''Wait until the American oil companies lay their hands on Iraq. That's when the real looting begins.''

SRI LANKA: U.S. Shows Tigers It’s the Godfather of Global Affairs

The leader of the Tiger rebels, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, sees himself as the godfather of Tamil politics in Sri Lanka, but he is being forced to learn that the U.S. government revels in having that title when it comes to global politics.

FINANCE: IMF and World Bank Fire Development Blanks at Meetings

Despite launching their semi-annual get together asserting that they are not political bodies, last weekend revealed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are prone to manipulation by their richest members, a weakness that can have the effect of sidelining pressing development issues.