Summary --
As the United States and its NATO allies slog on in Afghanistan, it is Washington's mismanagement of local alliances that has proved to be the undoing of its strategy in the country. [MORE]
-- The Kettle Rumbles
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
FEER: The Art of Afghan Alliance Building | Foreign Affairs
The Art of Afghan Alliance Building | Foreign Affairs
-- The Kettle Rumbles
-- The Kettle Rumbles
NY Times: Remembering Afghanistan’s Golden Age
From the 1930s to the 1970s, Afghanistan had a semblance of a national government and Kabul was known as “the Paris of Central Asia.” [MORE]
-- The Kettle Rumbles
NY Times: Racing Time and Taliban to Rebuild in Pakistan
Reconstruction of battered villages has yet to begin in the upper Swat Valley, making the area ripe for another Taliban takeover. [MORE]
-- The Kettle Rumbles
WSJ: Five Technologies That Could Change Everything
Five Technologies That Could Change Everything
It's a tall order: Over the next few decades, the world will need to wean itself from dependence on fossil fuels and drastically reduce greenhouse gases. Current technology will take us only so far; major breakthroughs are required.
What might those breakthroughs be? Here's a look at five technologies that, if successful, could radically change the world energy picture. [MORE]
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Reading stuff likes this makes me wish I was an engineer working on this stuff!
-- The Kettle Rumbles
BBC: Kyrgyzstan's government resigns
Kyrgyzstan's government has announced its resignation, as a result of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's call for sweeping reforms. [MORE]
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An Alarming turn of events!
-- The Kettle Rumbles
Monday, October 19, 2009
BBC: Fleeing from South Waziristan dangers
Fleeing from South Waziristan dangers
Up to 100,000 civilians have left their homes in South Waziristan, where the Pakistani army is fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda. [More]
-- The Kettle Rumbles
BBC: Profile: Hakimullah Mehsud
Hakimullah Mehsud, who the Taliban say is their new leader in Pakistan, came to prominence in 2007 after a number of spectacular raids against the army. [More]
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How futile it is to drop bombs from 20,000 feet in the air to kill the leadership of an organization whose ranks are quickly replenished by young men like Hakimullah Mehsud. Hakimullah had no education but from a madrasa. How different would his life had been and the conflict in Pakistan would be if we, who have so many opportunities ourselves, had cared whether he had any...
-- The Kettle Rumbles
Saturday, October 10, 2009
BBC: 'Living wage' identified for Asia
'Living wage' identified for Asia
Labour Behind the Label, a group that campaigns for garment workers, has calculated a wage it says should be used as a minimum for workers in Asia. [More]
-- The Kettle Rumbles
FEER: Why Islamic Extremists Hate India
October 2009
Why Islamic Extremists Hate India
by Salil Tripathi
EXCERPT: [...]India is a danger because by its pluralistic nature it is a real threat for Islamic extremists. Not only does India have the world’s third-largest Muslim population (Pakistan finally overtook India recently), despite domestic differences with the majority Hindus, Indian Muslims have remained loyal to the Indian state, and have fully embraced democracy. While many Muslims live in poverty in India, so do other Indians, including Hindus. And Muslims alone are not victims of human rights abuses in India. What’s more, talented Muslims have often reached the top of Indian corporations, judiciary, armed forces, bureaucracy, and other fields, entirely on merit. They are able to express their grievances through the democratic system. It is no surprise, then, that of all the recruits al Qaeda has been able to attract around the world, barely a handful of Indian Muslims have been swayed by al Qaeda’s nihilist ideology. [MORE]
-- The Kettle Rumbles
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