Politics
Politics
Fair Observer's analysis of political issues, events and trends and their national, regional and international consequences.
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360° Analysis / Afghanistan / corruption / Politics / AsiaCorruption has hindered Afghanistan’s path to stability and sound democracy. The country needs to stop supporting those who are charged with fraud but back those up who fight it. In connection to his speech at the National Assembly on June 21, President Hamid Karzai issued a decree around three weeks ago, tasking his ministries, judiciary, and prosecutors with ardent outlines to fight nepotism, bribery, cronyism and corruption. The decree sparked the debate among intellectuals about whether it could help bring Karzai's order to fruition. Observing the various reactionary takes along with the account of the government's earlier failed attempts on the same, little is expected to...
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By Katja AngerA closer look at the role and relationship between the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. When the “Tuareg Rebellion” in its latest avatar was seen in March of this year with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) proclaiming to control vast northeastern regions of Mali, one of the first things that happened was confusion amongst western media of what to make of this complex crisis ; Since then not much interest has been vested on an international level, even though the conflict has grave regional and even international implications for peace and security. Confusion has persisted, especially...
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360° Analysis / Civil War / Politics / Syria / Arts & Culture / Middle EastThe ongoing fighting between the Syrian military and armed opposition groups inside Syria’s largest city of Aleppo threatens to irrevocably tear this ancient and important city apart. This article, a personal memory of the city, is the last of two parts. Aleppo evokes pleasant memories. The city for me will always be the emerald-colored sky. Nights in the city were often a glowing green, a neon-soft light pleasant upon the eyes. The night-time sky above the city was illuminated from hundreds of mosques; their minarets cast a verdant shine. Aleppo was an ancient city full of energy and vitality. It always seemed grander than its sisterly rival, Damascus. Perhaps this majesty was the...
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360° Analysis / China / military spending / PLA / Politics / AsiaBy Binh NguyenChina’s perception of its neighbors and its environment shapes its military expenditure and planning. This is the first of two parts. Senior American officials including the Secretaries of State and of Defense have remarked that China’s recent military buildup is quite excessive given the country’s security environment. China has expanded its defense budget in recent years by up to 20% per year, becoming the country with the 2nd largest military expenditure in the world after the United States. In order to assess whether China’s buildup is truly excessive or not, the statistics about China’s military spending should not be scrutinized in an isolated way....
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360° Analysis / caliphate / Muslim Ummah / Pakistan / Politics / Arts & Culture / AsiaThe emergence of a multi-polar world order and the decline of neoliberal hegemony make the creation of a new caliphal entity not that unlikely. Even if the where and how of such a development remain largely shrouded in speculation for now, Pakistan is a possibility. In an editorial published earlier this year, the Russian publicist and Islamic social activist Geidar Jemal suggested that one or another form of a restored caliphate is to be one of the world’s political poles in the not too distant future. For most of international opinion, the idea of restoring the caliphate comes at one with the specter of a terrorist international. In my opinion, one has to start to look beyond this....
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A law governing Israel’s discriminatory military draft has expired, raising tensions between secular, religious, and Israeli-Arabs in one of the country’s most significant internal conflicts. Those following Israel’s ongoing conflict with its neighbors may have overlooked a widening domestic rift between Israelis, no less serious in its implications for the future of the country. In February, the controversial “Tal Law,” which governed a system of discriminatory conscription into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was ruled unconstitutional by Israel’s Supreme Court before its expiration on August 1. For the last ten years, and effectively, decades...
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Today, Israel struggles to reverse a deeply entrenched system of unequal conscription into its army. Background Shortly after Israel’s birth in 1948, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion granted 400 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men exemption from Israel’s compulsory military service so that they could study full-time in yeshivas (Jewish seminary schools). The pragmatic leader had sought the political support of influential rabbis who were determined to revive a tradition of Torah study, nearly obliterated during the Holocaust. It seemed an unremarkable concession at the time. Then, in 2002, during one of the bloodiest periods of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising), the Israeli...
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360° Analysis / corruption in India / Democracy / India / Politics / state of India's democracy / BRIC / AsiaIndia's foreign policy prowess may be growing, but it is governed by the nation's internal health - which is riddled with poverty, corruption and displacement. Such vulnerabilities can threaten the smooth functioning of our democracy, and need to be addressed promptly. By Sudeep Chakravarti There is an urgent need to evangelise the compelling reality that there is a country at stake: India. It is these days fashionable in certain circles to write off India’s neighbours—Pakistan, Nepal—as failed states, and superciliously refer to other neighbours—Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar—as those who have seen the guiding light of India’s...
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360° Analysis / Iran / Iraq / Politics / Syria / Middle East / Global SecurityAs the conflict in Syria gains in intensity, so does the possibility of destabilization in Iraq. The three major sectarian groups in Iraq now have a unique part to play. Syria has been driving everyone in Iraq mad. In the past week, I visited four embassies in Baghdad and all we talked about was Syria. I went to the United Nations for a meeting on Iraq and all we talked about was Syria. On a recent conference call, every point I made somehow had a connection to Syria. During the conference call one of my Iraqi colleagues sent me an email saying: “The fall of the armies of Syria signals the coming of the 12th Imam”. In short, everyone in Iraq is mad about Syria. Let me explain....