Archive for May, 2010
05 24th, 2010
The new hi-tech website www.Indiansread.com has Democracy Kills on its top ten list, together flanked by Gurcharan Das and Tariq Ali.
05 22nd, 2010
In the light of the torpedo crisis, North Korea expert, Ruediger Frank, from the University of Vienna offers this analysis.
“A famine, a set of failed economic policies, and Kim’s obvious health issues have created a situation of frustration, insecurity, and nervousness. The Pyongyang elite will be holding their breath and watching closely how Kim Jong Il reacts. What if he does not succeed in creating the impression that sinking the Cheonan was his idea? Even if so, this is a catch-22 since it invites a potentially destructive counter reaction by South Korea and the United States. If it wasn’t done on his command, will Kim Jong Il conduct a major purge of the culprits like his father did in 1956, when a trip to Europe was used to launch a coup against him? If he doesn’t, then the vultures will get more courageous.
However, it is very unlikely that an unfriendly takeover of the top post in Pyongyang would happen quickly, effectively, and peacefully. Chances are much better for the emergence of the chaotic situation that North Korea’s neighbors have tried to avoid for a long time at the economic and political cost of deliberately propping up the Kim Jong Il regime. The potential effects include a humanitarian disaster, a last-ditch effort at a military solution, or the active involvement of superpowers like China.
In short, we have reason to be really worried this time.”
Click here: The Third World War — A Future History Click here: The Third World War — A Future History
05 21st, 2010
The North Korean torpedo attack delivers a web of questions on how to handle a rogue state. This from US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, as soon as she began her visit to East Asia.
“We cannot allow this attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community. “This will not be and cannot be business as usual. There must be an international, not just a regional, but an international response.”
But what exactly should that response be?
Click here: The Third World War Click here: The Third World War
05 20th, 2010
A North Korean submarine’s torpedo sank a South Korean navy ship on 26 March causing the loss of 46 sailors, an international report has found. The South Korean government has pledged stern action. The United States described it as an ‘act of aggression’. Japan said it was unforgiveable, and China that it was ‘unfortunate.’
So what are the scenarios from here:- Click here: The Third World War
05 19th, 2010
As Bangkok burns, I’m preparing for a debate at the Asia House – Festival of Asian Literature on Democracy Kills with John Kampfner, author Freedom for Sale — searching for that as yet elusive philosopher’s stone on how to create democ racy and freedom in the developing world without violence. Thailand’s violence moves us away from the familiar relgious extremism of recent years into a whole new challenge.
05 18th, 2010
My surveillance thriller, The History Book, is now available on Amazon Kindle. If you like Lisbeth Salander in Sweden you’ll love Kat Polinski in Washington and London. Pure kick-ass thrills.
Click here: The History Book — Kindle Edition
The History Book is published in paperback as Security Breach
Full of surprises… its political implications are worth pondering… Hawksley is a skilled writer – Washington Post Book World
[A] whirlwind thriller – Publishers Weekly
Exciting… Combines the elements of 1984, intrigue of the Cold War, power politics, technological and communications science fiction, and terrorism – Midwest Book Review
Will whistle past your ears like the biggest drop in the biggest roller-coaster ride… This thriller is such a good read partly because of its very smart, sophisticated international espionage plot, but even more because of its terrific heroine. - Sullivan County Democrat (NY)
05 18th, 2010
Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros, writing in Foreign Affairs, have hit the nail on their head by overturning simplistic statements on human rights.
For a poor person in the developing world, the struggle for human rights in not an abstract fight over political freedom or over the prosecution of large-scale war crimes but a matter of daily survival. It is the struggle to avoid extortion or abuse by local police, the struggle against being forced into slavery or having land stolen, the struggle to avoid being thrown arbitrarily into an overcrowded, disease-ridden jail with little or no prospect of a fair trial.
They are spot. If democracy is to have the slightest chance of working, there must be a strong justice system in place — not just high-minded legislation to satisfy Western donors.
05 15th, 2010
Robert D Kaplan in Foreign Affairs: China today is consolidating its land borders and beginning to turn outward. China’s foreign policy ambitions are as aggressive as those of the United States a century ago, but for completely different reasons. China does not take a missionary approach to world affairs seeking to spread an ideology or system of government.
Click here: The Third World War — A Future History
05 14th, 2010
Rita Payne arranged a fascinating meeting with Nepali politician Sagar S Rana and his son Udaya. While European and American minds are focussed on the Clash of Religions after 9/11 and Iraq and Afghanistan, Nepal’s poverty and conflict is being played out along old-style left-right ideological lines. It suggests a universality that whether extreme Islam or Communism, a disciplined movement, offering hope and fear, can polarise the poor and upset the status quo.
05 11th, 2010
The Philippines voted for a new president on Monday on a new computerised system that gave them results within hours. There were barely any reports of voters being locked out of polling stations and behind-the-scenes horse-trading to determine a winner. It might be worth Britain checking out how it works.
