Comment & Briefs

The Sri Lankan government seems to be in a desperate hurry to bring about all the necessary revisions in the constitution to strengthen the Executive Presidency without any provision of checks and balances. Sri Lanka, under Rajapaksa, is headed towards nepotism and dictatorship as the 18th amendment suggests.

From a broader perspective, the referendum and the debates around it should be seen as the latest example of the domestic transformation of Turkish politics especially since the AKP came to power in 2002.

Cutting off defence ties with Israel will not in any way be the ‘magic’ bullet that will lead to the resolution of the intractable Palestine conflict.

Global warming-induced accessibility has drawn many actors to the Arctic zone, seeking to establish exclusive sovereign rights over its many natural endowments.

The strategy helps sensitise Pakistan to India’s tolerance threshold and reinforces deterrence by bringing home unambiguously to Pakistan that things could get out of hand.

As the European political landscape is continuously changing and assertive voices from the CEEC are expected to be heard, India and Poland should seriously think about establishing a strategic partnership.

The tremendous growth in Bangladesh’s exports has been due to three factors – the global recession, new markets and China’s spectacular economic growth.

Liberal democratic European countries are suddenly discovering their ‘national heritage’ and their ‘national culture’ because of the desire to maintain the majority position and the privileges that come with it.

With the Senate Committee on Foreign Relatons agreeing on September 16 to send the New START to the full Senate for ratification, the prospects of realising the potential of the Obama administration’s signal foreign policy achievement seem to have improved considerably.

The NSG will be in trouble if China goes ahead with its plan to sell nuclear reactors to a non-NPT country like Pakistan.