S. Nihal Singh

Dec 08, 2010

Gaza: On the brink, again...

Israelis and Palestinians and the wider region and the world are paying the price of 45 years of occupation of Palestinian lands underwritten by the United States economically, militarily and diplomatically.

China: New leaders, new challenges

The greatest show on earth in political theatre is over in Beijing and as Xi Jinping led six other dark-suited men on the red-carpeted stage of the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, the world had its first glimpse of the men making up the Standing Committee of the Politburo which will rule China.

US President has promises to keep

US President Barack Obama’s success in his re-election bid by a narrow margin gives him four more years in an American environment that is challenging by any standards. Just before he took over as the first black President in his country’s history, he faced the biggest recession that hit his homeland since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Activist gadfly in BJP ointment

Whatever Arvind Kejriwal’s intentions and future prospects are, he has triggered a storm which is taking in its sweep the son-in-law of the first family, Robert Vadra, law minister Salman Khurshid and Nitin Gadkari, the BJP president.

A stroke of genius by Nobel Committee

In recent years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has taken an adventurous course in awarding the Peace Prize.

China and the fall of its princeling

Behind the choreographed trials of the wife of the Chinese Communist Party leader Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, for the murder of a British businessman, and his former police chief and associates lies a matter

Arab Spring turns bitter for America

The dramatic attack on the American consulate in Benghazi leading to the deaths of the ambassador and three other US officials on the anniversary of 9/11 — the deadly 2001 attacks on New York’s Twin Towers — signify two things: the state of Libya after the violent ouster of Muammar Gaddafi through US and other Western intervention, and how the evolving scenario in the Arab world is changing 18 months after the Arab Spring swept the region.

A nuclear peace

The endorsement of Iran’s nuclear programme and its right to a full nuclear cycle at the recent meeting of the Non-Aligned Summit increases India’s dilemmas in the balancing act it has been attempting between its support for Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme and its interests in the region and the United States’ single-minded resolve (goaded by Israel) to deny Iran the temptation to go nuclear militarily.

BJP beginning to show its true colour

Key leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh seem to have come to the conclusion that it is time to press for an early general election. This represents a dramatic change from the BJP’s perceived interest in prioritising resolution of its internal leadership squabbles before clearing the decks for advancing the election date, despite the bulk of the party’s parliamentarians loath to cut short their five-year term.

All eyes on Egypt’s power play

In one fell swoop, Egypt’s first new civilian President, Mohammed Morsi, sacked the long-time defence minister and the virtual ruler of the country since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, and the armed forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Sami Annan, making them presidential advisers. In addition, he annulled the June declaration by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) giving itself broad executive and legislative powers.

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