It’s the classic tight spot between the devil and the deep blue sea. Afghans are caught between having a corrupt and election-cheating Karzai as president and a historical scenario dominated by the likes of Mullah Omar, languishing in a civil war, or the Soviet regime. By Afghan standards, these are better times in Afghanistan. In [...]

Whether the US wants Hamid Karzai for Afghanistan leadership or not is now moot. Karzai’s opponent backed out of the runoff and the country is left with no choice but to accept Karzai’s ‘reelection,’ amidst prevailing speculation of massive electoral fraud. ‘Nearly a third of the votes cast in Mr. Karzai’s favor in presidential elections [...]

As one observer noted, ‘The Taliban-led insurgency is increasingly an insurrection against the behavior of the Karzai government—not against the religion or civilization of its international partners.’
The basic concept behind an insurgency, after all, is revolt against current political administration. As Thomas L. Friedman stated, “When you are mounting a counterinsurgency campaign, the local government [...]

During her official trip to Africa, Hillary Clinton had planned to impress upon her interlocutors the need to fight against corruption. The head of American diplomacy even insinuated that people take to the streets to protest against their corrupt governments.
Among the themes that the US Secretary of State had chosen for this trip is violence [...]

According to a study conducted by the Iraqi government agency Central Statistics Authority, nearly a quarter of all Iraqis live below the poverty line that is demarcated as living on $2.50 or less per day. As the country starts its rehabilitation after the 6-year war spurred by the US-led invasion in 2003 to defeat former [...]

First, be a top Mexican drug lord, then aim to be the ‘Godfather of Mexican Cocaine,’ next write down your experience, then hope that your writings get into the hands of an investigative journalist. Miguel Angel Félix Gallardo did just those. His writings, portions of which were passed to investigative journalist Diego Osorno and  published [...]

If there has to be one stunning outcomes of recent Lok Sabha elections in India, it certainly is the debacle of Left and CPI(M) in West Bengal, one of the long standing communist states of the country. No one expected leading Opposition party, Trinamool Congress, led my not so popular a political figure, Mamata Banerjee [...]

Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas have agreed to do the sequel of the film ‘Wall Street’ (1987). Fox Studios is also negotiating with actor Shia LaBeouf for a role in the film. Allan Loeb wrote the screenplay. Ed Pressman, producer of the original film, will likewise finance the sequel. Filming is expected to start this [...]

In Mary Oraon, protagonist in Mahasweta Devi’s ‘The Hunt,’ we find the concrete alternative to capably resist not only the injustice of gender politics but also the incursion upon tribal land and forests by feudalism, colonialism, and global capitalism.
There is a reason why Australia figures in the story. Mary and the trees planted on her [...]

People believe what they see and feel themselves. Even if there are other mechanisms that issue opinions about leaders such as opinion-makers and media, it is still, ultimately, the perception of the people that make them gauge the leadership of the one who heads them.
This perception is personal and based on what people see for [...]