From The Hindu, does the internal war in Sri Lanka between the government and the LTTE have any security implications for India? A review of Can India grow without Bharat? by Shankar Acharya and The Second Partition by Patwant Singh. An essay on The Last Mughal and the First Empress (an part 2 and part 3). A review of India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha. A review of Incredible India: Traditions and Rituals by Muthusamy Varadarajan. A caste of millions: India's 160m Dalits, or untouchables, have turned to the internet to combat their mistreatment at home.
Democracy, ready or not: On their king's orders, the citizens of Bhutan must now learn to vote. But in a society where only 3% of people say they are unhappy, what incentive do the people really have to change their government, and it’s democracy for some as Bhutan refuses to allow more than 100,000 Bhutanese Hindu refugees to return home. A review of Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi by Justin Wintle and The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma by Thant Myint-U. Prisoner of virtue: Aung San Suu Kyi is saintly, but is she right? Once a Muslim, always a Muslim in Malaysia: The country’s highest court rules that a Kuala Lumpur woman can’t convert to Christianity.
From Foreign Policy, Japan is on the cusp of a constitutional revolution. To an overstretched West, a newly muscular Tokyo promises stability in a rapidly shifting region. Yet, in its rush to overturn six decades of official pacifism, the Japanese government is stifling the serious national debate required in a modern democracy. Is anyone paying attention? Why are there so many suicides in Japan? Christopher Beam investigates. A review of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. by Roland Kelts. From The New Atlantis, Jeff Kueter, president of the George C. Marshall Institute, on China's space ambitions — and ours. A review of The Writing on the Wall: China and the West in the 21st century by Will Hutton (and more). Gita Aravamudan talks about how Disappearing Daughters, her book on female foeticide, happened.
In the past 30 years Agnes has had unprotected sex with up to 2,000 infected men. Yet she and a small number of her fellow sex workers are still free from Aids. Stephanie Nolen travels to Majengo, a slum in Nairobi, to meet the extraordinary women and researchers who are changing the history of HIV. After fighting neglected diseases in Africa for a quarter century, former president Jimmy Carter takes on one of the continent's biggest killers—malaria. With an annual inflation rate of 3,714 percent, Zimbabwe appears to be caught in a tailspin of hyperinflation. The introduction to Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism. As asylum seekers from Africa drown or are abandoned at sea trying to cross to Europe, a UN official charged the governments of Mediterranean countries with turning the waters between them into a "wild west" where the lives of immigrants had little value.
From Der Spiegel, it used to be that residents of southern Spain would head to Germany as guest workers. Now, the region hosts guest workers of its own — from Morocco. The program may become a model for migrant labor across the European Union. Forced labour is widespread in Europe. But until policy makers recognize the need to manage the demand for migrant workers, there will continue to be a market for those prepared to risk exploitation. A review of The Future of Europe: Reform or Decline by Alberto Alessina and Francesco Giavazzi.
