Asia & Pacific
Obama and Arroyo: Time for a Reset
President Barack Obama will meet Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on July 30, his first meeting with a Southeast Asian head of state. Although it’s too early to see where the Obama administration will take policy in Southeast Asia, Obama’s personal connection to the region will likely increase Southeast Asia’s profile in Washington.
Poem: “River, Page”
To Y. Thao Look how you’ve carried these small bodies across the ocean, looking for the next one to hear the story. Look how gently you laid these children down at the fire where stories are told. I hear it again: how the choppers lifted out of Saigon, cut away the desperate arms and fled, […]
Poem: “Three Gifts”
In Memory of Saeed One day my father called us and said: I have three gifts for you — A red heart, an hourglass, and… O God, I don’t remember the other one. Mehdy took the heart Opened its two halves And strummed the strings of its chambers. I took the hourglass And along its […]
Muslim Voices
A chaikhana is a Central Asian teahouse where poets and performers — men and (unveiled) women — sing verses and recite prose in a conversational atmosphere with fellow patrons. In New York, last month’s Muslim Voices festival recreated a chaikhana to showcase Urdu writers from Pakistan, performances of Lebanese zajal (dueling poetry with audience response and affirmation), and West African jaliya, an hereditary bardic tradition from Mali that has produced many world music stars.
Pushing South Asia Toward the Brink
The contradictions and confusions in U.S. policy in South Asia were on full display during Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s recent visit to India. U.S. support for India, which centers on making money, selling weapons, and turning a blind eye to the country’s nuclear weapons, is fatally at odds with U.S. policy and concerns about Pakistan.
Would MLK Back Iran’s Protesters?
Combine Iran’s post-election turmoil with the controversy over the nation’s nuclear advances, and few Americans are likely to be unsympathetic toward the opposition movement there. Some bloggers have even suggested that the reformist-led protests are inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. Several commentators have referred to the wave of anti-theocracy rallies as Iran’s "civil rights movement, perhaps implying that the social conservatives who rule the country resemble Mississippi fundamentalists.
Blood and Oil in Central Asia
In the past month, two seemingly unrelated events have turned Central Asia into a potential flashpoint: an aggressively expanding North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a nascent strategic alliance between Russia and China.
Iran: Code Orange?
"Iran is now on the verge of an Orange-style Revolution." This statement is likely to elicit enthusiasm from those working tirelessly to promote democracy in Iran.
Iran’s Do-It-Yourself Revolution
Facing an unprecedented popular uprising against his autocratic rule and his apparently fraudulent re-election, Iran’s right-wing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has attempted to blame the United States. A surprising number of bloggers on the left have rushed to the defense of the right-wing fundamentalist leader. Citing presidential directives under the Bush administration, they argue that the uprising isn’t as much about a stolen election, the oppression of women, censorship, severe restrictions on political liberties, growing economic inequality, and other grievances, as it is about the result of U.S. interference.