24. Jan 2013

The gunslinger state of Laos

development, economy, environment, Human rights, InFocus, Laos

On December 15, on his way back from work, the Laotian director, activist and award winner, Sombath Somphone, mysteriously disappeared. The last people to see him, according to leaked surveillance footage, were the Laotian authorities at a police control post, where he was pulled over, and then driven away in a different car. Despite that, […]

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16. Jan 2013

Iqbal’s Pakistan! – The Country Ahead?

culture, InFocus, Islam, nationalism, Pakistan

                                                                                                 The term ‘Iqbal’s Pakistan’ is frequently used […]

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7. Jan 2013

A couple of under-reported observations on North Korea’s rocket launch

InFocus, International relations, Korea, nuclear weapons, security studies

North Korea’s successful rocket launch on December 12, 2012 predictably spurred worldwide condemnation and media attention. Many of the reports immediately following the launch were remarkably similar and contained few attempts at alternative interpretations of the launch itself and of its implications. In the following text a couple of rather under-reported observations on the North […]

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