US/IRAN: Duel for Leverage Fuels Conflict, Not Diplomacy

As the dispute over Iran's seizure of British sailors continues to twist and turn, what may have been an isolated incident at the outset is quickly developing into yet another move in the geopolitical chess game between the West and Iran.

US/IRAN: Duel for Leverage Fuels Conflict, Not Diplomacy

As the dispute over Iran's seizure of British sailors continues to twist and turn, what may have been an isolated incident at the outset is quickly developing into yet another move in the geopolitical chess game between the West and Iran.

PHILIPPINES: Rape Case Won’t Dent US Military Presence

While public anger has dogged the Subic Bay rape case, which resulted in the conviction of a United States marine in December, it will not affect U.S. military presence in the Philippines or Washington's overall policy in the Asia Pacific region.

KYRGYZSTAN: Exporting the Tulip Revolution

Two years ago, the 'Tulip Revolution' pushed Kyrgyzstan off the path of dictatorship. The subsequent direction the small Central Asian country has taken, and whether the revolution can serve as a model for the region, remain controversial.

TURKEY: The Mystery of the Next President

Less than two months before the seven-year term of President Ahmet Nejdet Sezer ends, Turks still do not know who their next head of state will be. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan might, but he will not disclose it even at this late stage.

BURMA: Junta Puts Political Reform Plan on Hold

Burma's military rulers have put the country's political reform process on hold amid divisions and uncertainty on how to move forward on ‘national reconciliation' as the junta calls its programme for political change.

BURMA: Junta Puts Political Reform Plan on Hold

Burma's military rulers have put the country's political reform process on hold amid divisions and uncertainty on how to move forward on ‘national reconciliation' as the junta calls its programme for political change.

AFGHANISTAN: Amnesty Law Condones Warlords’ Past Abuse

A new law granting amnesty and legal protection from prosecution to Afghan commanders accused of committing war atrocities has shifted the burden of proof for the two and a half decades of grave abuses to the Afghan public.

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN: Shifting Stakes, Partners

The crisis precipitated by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's summary sacking of Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry shows no sign of abating. The resignations of a number of judges and of deputy attorney general Nasir Saeed Sheikh seem to have strengthened the agitation launched by Pakistani lawyers. Various political parties are preparing to jump into the fray.

AFGHANISTAN: Amnesty Law Condones Warlords’ Past Abuse

A new law granting amnesty and legal protection from prosecution to Afghan commanders accused of committing war atrocities has shifted the burden of proof for the two and a half decades of grave abuses to the Afghan public.

IRAN/SOUTH ASIA: US Frown Turns Gas Pipeline Into Pipe Dream

A grandiose project to construct a pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan at a cost of seven billion US dollars is in jeopardy on account of stiff opposition from Washington and wrangling among the three regional partners.

AFGHANISTAN: ‘Double Standards’ Boost Taliban

Military forces from Western powers are fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, but it is the policies of these very governments that is boosting the Taliban, going by several indications over recent days.

MALAYSIA: Racial Melting Pot on the Boil

Asia's melting pot, Malaysia, is celebrating 50 years of independence from British rule but against a backdrop of mounting racial disquiet fuelled by race-based politics, redundant policies that divide and discriminate and affirmative action that favours native Malays over minority Chinese and Indians.

NORTH KOREA: ‘Back at Square One on Nuclear Issue’

Is the Korean peninsula really heading for de-nuclearisation after last month's surprising deal? Experts like Han Sung-Joo, former South Korean foreign minister, remain sceptical and say it is ''unlikely that the North Korean regime will ever give up its nuclear weapons''.

MIDEAST: United But Still Isolated

Palestinian leaders heaved a sigh of relief over the weekend when the formation of the long- awaited Hamas-Fatah national unity government finally became a reality. The unity coalition, they hope, will extinguish factional violence in the Gaza Strip that has claimed the lives of over 100 Palestinians in recent months.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Give Italy Three Days for Italian Reporter

The Taliban may have sent their clearest signal about the fate of abducted Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo by executing his driver, preceded by a taped warning that the Italian government has "only two days to save his life by starting negotiations."

POLITICS-US: Bush’s Book List Gets More Islamophobic

Accounts of a Feb. 28 "literary luncheon" at the White House suggest that President George W. Bush's reading tastes - until now a remarkably good predictor of his policy views - are moving ever rightward, even apocalyptic, despite his administration's recent suggestions that it is more disposed to engage Washington's foes, even in the Middle East.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Massacre of Peasants May Slow SEZ Plans

It took the gruesome massacre of 15 peasants in police firing for the provincial government of West Bengal to suspend the forcible acquisition of farming land it wants to hand over to an Indonesian conglomerate for development into a Special Economic Zone.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Massacre of Peasants May Slow SEZ Plans

It took the gruesome massacre of 15 peasants in police firing for the provincial government of West Bengal to suspend the forcible acquisition of farming land it wants to hand over to an Indonesian conglomerate for development into a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

TRADE: Meeting Fails to Close Gap on Regional Deals

As president of the European Union Council for the first half of this year, Germany sought to play a prominent role at a meeting of EU development ministers in Bonn Mar. 13.

TECHNOLOGY-CHINA: Reaching For the Moon

When a People's Liberation Army (PLA) missile in January destroyed an obsolete Chinese weather satellite, the experiment revealed China's unexpected space capabilities, long kept shrouded by the country's reflexive secrecy.