BRAZIL-IRAN: New Boost to South-South Diplomacy

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial visit to Brazil further underscored the independence of this country's diplomacy, and gave Tehran a chance to defend its points of view on the construction of a lasting peace in the Middle East.

ECONOMY: Government Failures Feeding Next Financial Bubble

Numerous failures by industrialised countries’ governments and central banks in managing the financial crisis are feeding the next bubble, which most likely will again provoke economic woes such as recession, unemployment, and poverty, according to economists and analysts.

BOLIVIA: The Credibility of Campaign Promises

If two candidates offer funds for the poor, but one of them is known for living up to his promises, who will the citizens vote for? That would seem to broadly describe the choice Bolivian voters are facing in the Dec. 6 general elections.

MIDEAST: Threat Rises From Within

Israelis were perturbed when new recruits at a recent passing-out parade at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the remains of Judaism's holiest site, suddenly unfurled banners reading, 'Our Sons Do Not Evacuate Jews'.

INDIA: Women’s Political Empowerment, Yes; Better Lives, No

Despite getting suitably politically empowered, women in India continue to lag behind on almost all crucial developmental parametres like education, health and economic participation.

U.S.: Obama Returns to Greater Middle East Mess

As Barack Obama arrives home from his weeklong tour of East Asia, he confronts a growing list of ever more urgent problems in the Greater Middle East that he inherited from George W. Bush's "global war on terror".

ENVIRONMENT: Wildfires Spreading as Temperatures Rise

Future firefighters have their work cut out for them. Perhaps nowhere does this hit home harder than in Australia, where in early 2009 a persistent drought, high winds, and record high temperatures set the stage for the worst wildfire in the country's history.

DEVELOPMENT: To Grab, Or To Invest

The World Food Security Summit in Rome this week opened up a dispute between what may be investment in farmland to some, but is seen as land grab by others.

JAPAN: Obama Visit Hailed, But Left Crucial Questions Unanswered

Setting foot on the Land of Cherry Blossom over the weekend, U.S. President Barack Obama waxed nostalgic, recalling his first visit to Japan as a young boy, when his mother brought him there.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Much at Stake for Thai Premier over Cambodia Row

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva faces his toughest foreign policy challenge as his first year in office draws to a close. At stake is this South-east Asian kingdom’s standing in a regional bloc.

RIGHTS: State of India’s Children: An Unsettling Reality

Here is a sobering thought on the eve of Children's Day celebrated across India on Nov. 14. Despite the country's impressive economic growth trajectory and growing geopolitical heft, the benefits of that prosperity are not percolating down to its children who constitute a sizeable 30 percent of the country's 1.2 billion population.

U.S.: Increasingly Isolated in Key Regions

More than a year after his election, President Barack Obama appears to be dashing hopes both in the Arab world and in Latin America that he would bring major changes in U.S. policy toward their respective regions.

INDIA/CHINA: Dalai Lama’s Border State Visit: Purely Spiritual?

It is hard to say whether the Dalai Lama’s sojourn this week in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state—which China claims as southern Tibet—is a purely spiritual exercise or a trip with a deep political mission.

HAITI: Clinton Revives Modest Optimism for Island’s Economy

Since his appointment last spring as United Nations special envoy to Haiti, former U.S. President Bill Clinton has been called, half-seriously, "president of Haiti" and "viceroy".

CLIMATE CHANGE: Dark Clouds Gathering Over Copenhagen

It has been a bad week for the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month. During the week the last meeting in the formal round of pre- Copenhagen talks collapsed in Barcelona. Then, meeting here on the weekend, the G20 finance ministers put the seal on that failure by failing to agree a financial package.

SRI LANKA: Colombo’s Diplomatic Sparring Games with EU, U.S.

One thing that has set apart the current administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa from those of his predecessors is its diplomatic duels with international heavyweights.

MIDEAST: Lessons from the Karine A -Deja Vu All Over Again

As Israeli Defence Forces munitions experts sorted through 300 tonnes of weapons found on a German-owned, Cypriot-operated cargo ship flying the Antiguan flag, Israeli politicians were sifting through the various talking points that could be offloaded from the vessel.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Divide Before You Add

You could almost begin to divide the figures before you add them up. The numbers being advertised by way of aid to the developing world to contain carbon emissions do not quite add up. What is more certain is the division to follow.

MIDEAST: Abbas Produces a Dubious Twist

U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects.

US-SYRIA: Diplomatic Thaw Just Penetrating the Surface

Four months ago, the Barack Obama administration announced that it would appoint an ambassador to Syria, ending a four-year freeze on diplomatic relations between the two countries.

MIDEAST: Peace Plan May Yet Survive New Twists

U.S. President Obama's Middle East engagement policy reverses the unsuccessful policy of his predecessor, but the U.S. is again committing faux pas aplenty.