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29. Oct 2012
Xi Jinping: My road into politics
China, government, InFocus, politics
An interview from 2000 with China’s Vice President Xi Jinping Translated into Western language for the first time At the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China to be held in November 2012, China’s Vice President Xi Jinping is expected to be elected as the new Secretary General of the party. In August 2000, […]
Read more15. Oct 2012
Mo Yan på tryggt avstånd från politiken av Johan Lagerkvist
China, culture, democracy, government, Human rights, InFocus, International relations, literature, politics
Svenska Akademiens beslut att 2012 års Nobelpris i litteratur går till den kinesiske författaren Mo Yan är ett val som får enorm uppmärksamhet i Kina. Det är svårt att överskatta Nobelprisernas betydelse i ett land och en kultur där dessa utmärkelser – i synnerhet de naturvetenskapliga – varit stora nyheter alltsedan reformpolitiken inleddes 1978. I en […]
Read more3. Oct 2012
What happened to political reform in the second term of China’s Hu Jintao-Wen Jiabao administration?
China, democracy, government, InFocus, politics
In a recent blog-article by Deng Yuwen the outgoing leadership of Hu-Wen was given its score-card, titled “Ten grave problems”. Number ten was the problem of lack of political reform, after the original promising start. While we are waiting for the change of leadership to come in the 18.Party Congress in November, let us look […]
Read more14. Sep 2012
Ethnic cleansing and genocidal massacres 65 years ago by Ishtiaq Ahmed
India, InFocus, minorities, Nation-building, Pakistan, politics, Punjab, refugees, terror
One of the completest cases of ethnic cleansing – that entailed the murder of 500,000-800,000 Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – took place in 1947 in the Punjab Province of British India. Until now very little research had been conducted on it though in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi literature the horrors of the partition have figured […]
Read more28. Aug 2012
Incredible India Designs by Ravinder Kaur
culture, development, Globalization, India, InFocus, marketing, politics
In 2002, the government of India embarked upon a highly ambitious image campaign to create a new brand identity for the nation. The idea was to transform India into “a global brand, with worldwide brand recognition and strong brand equity” that will bring high end tourists and investors to the country. But how does one […]
Read more19. Jul 2012
So..what is the definition of Genocide, again?
Burma, genocide, Human rights, InFocus, minorities, Myanmar, politics, refugees
Rohingya: Rohingya is an ethnic minority with dark skin, Muslim beliefs and, for the most part, no citizenship anywhere. Some groups live as sea nomads. Others live as illegal immigrants in Thailand, India or Bangladesh. Some live in refugee camps different places. Most live in poverty and most live in Burma. Nobody likes the […]
Read more2. Jul 2012
Tracing the local effects of the South China Sea Dispute by Edyta Roszko
China, InFocus, South China sea, Vietnam
The nineteenth century notion of the ‘sovereign state’ brought by Europeans found fertile ground in Asia as it sought a way to liberate itself from the yoke of colonialism. While nowadays Europe is inclined towards more inclusive and porous notions of sovereignty, many Asian countries (China, India and ASEAN) resist this trend by advancing procedures […]
Read more19. Jun 2012
Kitakits
economy, InFocus, migration, Philippines
Migration and Overseas [email protected] [1] by Niklas Reese Close to eleven million [email protected] across more than a hundred countries around the globe—that was the picture of Philippine outmigration at the end of 2009. This figure represents more than ten percent of the total Philippine population and a little more than one fifth of the working-age segment. […]
Read more12. Jun 2012
Myanmar open for business, not its people
Burma, democracy, development, InFocus, International relations, Myanmar, refugees
by Gerhard Hoffstaedter, School of Social Science at the University of Queensland Aung San Suu Kyi has just left Myanmar (Burma) for the first time in 24 years visiting Thailand and Europe and calling for more foreign investment in Myanmar. Meanwhile, ethnic tensions in Myanmar continue to erupt to the surface in a country that […]
Read more4. Jun 2012
At the High Table
India, InFocus, International relations, nationalism, nuclear weapons, politics
by Stig Toft Madsen, NIAS On April 19th India test-fired a long-range ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear bomb. With a range stated to be more than 3.100 miles, the missile would be able to reach not only large Chinese cities beyond the Tibetan plateau. It could reach even further. The distance from say […]
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