BRIC
BRIC
Fair Observer provides analysis of important issues, events and trends in the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
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360° Analysis / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Kevin KwokIndia's paranoia over China is a one-sided dilemma. India and China have trust issues. Modern ties between the two ancient civilizations following the 1947 partition of India and the formation of the People’s Republic of China have been spiked with conflicts and skirmishes - the most serious case being the 1962 Sino-Indian war. The two countries do have a fruitful economic cooperation. In 2008 China became India’s largest trading partner, and by 2030 the two nations will share the largest trade relationship in the world. This has unfortunately not paved the way for warmer diplomatic ties between the two nations. Border disputes, India’s suspicion towards China’s...
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By Neelam Deo The setting for the third Indo-US Strategic Dialogue is promising: a global shift of economic weight to Asia, US military exhaustion and indebtedness to China and other factors call for a greater convergence in Indo-US interests than ever before. It is essential then, to take bold decisions at the dialogue. As a welcome curtain-raiser to the third round of the Indo-U.S. Strategic Dialogue in Washington DC on June 13, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that India was among the eight countries exempt from sanctions to our financial institutions because of significant reductions to our imports of oil from Iran. While this is a relief, it does underline once again the...
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The Russian scholar and independent analyst Dr. Nikolay Kozhanov shares his in-depth insight into the Russian approach towards the upcoming Moscow negotiations between P5+1 and Iran with Shirin Shafaie. Dr. Kozhanov was an attaché at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tehran from 2006 to 2009, where he worked on Iran's nuclear issue among other socio-economic and energy-related issues. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute, a scholar at the nongovernmental Institute of the Middle East and a visiting lecturer at the School of Economics of the St. Petersburg State University. Dr. Kozhanov's monograph, Economic Sanctions Against Iran: Aims, Scale...
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The Russian scholar and independent analyst Dr. Nikolay Kozhanov shares his in-depth insight into the Russian approach towards the upcoming Moscow negotiations between P5+1 and Iran with Shirin Shafaie. Dr. Kozhanov was an attaché at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tehran from 2006 to 2009, where he worked on Iran's nuclear issue among other socio-economic and energy-related issues. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute, a scholar at the nongovernmental Institute of the Middle East and a visiting lecturer at the School of Economics of the St. Petersburg State University. Dr. Kozhanov's monograph, Economic Sanctions Against Iran: Aims, Scale...
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360° Analysis / Politics / Europe / BRICAlexander von Hahn analyzes reactions to Putin's election. Vladimir Putin sheds the fig leaf of constitutional correctness and reassumes the title - not the role, which he has been playing for nearly ten years - of Russia’s president for the third term. Many commentators contemplate accepting the reality of yet another decade of his rule. But just how real is this reality? A clue came as the helicopter broadcasting live Putin’s triumphant ride through the Moscow city centre to his Kremlin inauguration passed over the Russian capital’s busiest streets. Europe’s most populous city was eerily empty, swept clean - as if struck by some deadly virus in a horror movie....
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360° Analysis / Politics / BRIC / AsiaBy Mayank SinghMayank Singh analyzes why India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh should quit office. 'The slip', as the adage goes, 'is showing' for the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. With corruption scandals tumbling out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s closet, his rant of "quitting public life, if charges against him were proved" has been met with derision. While Manmohan may be absolved of personal corruption, his predilection for turning a blind eye towards it has tarnished his legacy. The usually reticent Manmohan's outburst against the anti-corruption activists, accusing them of "spreading canards and falsehoods", betrays...
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360° Analysis / Politics / BRIC / AsiaBy Atul SinghFair Observer’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Atul Singh, analyzes Manmohan Singh’s performance as Prime Minister and argues that it is time for him to go. Finally the wheels are coming off India’s much vaunted economic growth has slowed down to 5.3%. Its current account deficit has been pushed to the highest level ever. Manmohan Singh, India’s Prime Minister, has increased subsidies, failed to formulate any reforms and continued to borrow merrily with no qualms or concerns. Finally, even Manmohan’s clean reputation is under threat. One scandal has followed another, making him the Prime Minister of the most corrupt government since India’s independence....
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Politics / 360° Context / BRIC / AsiaAn analysis of the distribution of power in India and how the Nehru Dynasty continues to rule the country until today. Background India attained independence from the British in 1947 and adopted a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model. Political parties compete for power and the leader of the single largest party forms the government. Since 1947, the Indian National Congress party, commonly known as the Congress, has been the dominant political party in the country. Before independence, the Congress was a movement led by Mahatma Gandhi who recommended that it be disbanded post independence. Like many of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas, this was disregarded after independence....
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360° Analysis / BRIC / HealthIn order to provide a better health care system in the country, the Indian government initiated the National Rural Health Mission. Among some of the important initiatives that the central government of India took under United Progressive Alliance (UPA-1) was the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). It has improved access to health care in specific states and the country as a whole. From 2005 to 2010, the infant mortality rates have dropped from 58 to 47 fatalities per 100,000 live births for the country as a whole. Maternal mortality rates and total fertility rates have decreased. Village infrastructure has improved along with an increase in health care workforce with the...