SUBCONTINENT - ASIA - WORLD: July 2008

27 July, 2008

Laos, Cambodia

Checkbook diplomacy raises China’s standing with Laos and Cambodia , by Bertil Lintner - YaleGlobal

Fear of foreigners in Laos , by Bertil Lintner - Asia Times

New-age Chinatown has Laotians on edge , by Brian McCartan - Asia Times

Asia's Other Burma , by Bounsang Khamkeo - WSJ

Country for sale - Almost half of Cambodia has been sold to foreign speculators in the past 18 months - and hundreds of thousands who fled the Khmer Rouge are homeless once more,
by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark - Guardian

Chinese-funded hydro-dams bring hope and fear to Cambodia - AFP

China presence in Cambodia grows , by Mayarith - Asia Times

Cambodian dam plans suffer information drought , by Andrew Nette - Asia Times

New Statesman - special focus

The dark side of paradise - by Sholto Byrnes

A talking shop – or an EU of the east? - Does the Association of South-East Asian Nations have a future? - by Philip Bowring

Beauty at a price - Concrete hotels, go-go bars and drug tourism have scarred Thailand, Laos and Cambodia - yet it is not too late to develop a less destructive travel industry - by Joe Cummings

Women under fire - South-east Asia's women hold high office in business and politics, but they face challenges from growing conservatism - by Marina Mahathir

The spice girls - Indonesia’s transgender underworld - by Elizabeth Pisani

Tolerance v terror - Even though extremism has taken root in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, their long tradition of moderate Islam offers hope - by Ziauddin Sardar

To go or not to go? - Should you visit Burma? Not if you want to discover the harsh realities of life under the generals - by Ruth Padel

Monks, generals and karma - Buddhism and politics - by Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid

Frontier Years Give Might to Ex-Guerrilla’s Words - NYT

Descent Into Chaos: How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia - London Times

An opportunity missed - Economist

Descent into Chaos - FT

Chronicles of a chaotic state - Independent

Losing the war against Islamic extremism - Telegraph

General

Power Rising, Taliban Besiege Pakistani Shiites , by Jane Perlez - NYT

The Wahhabisation of Pakistan , by Manan Ahmed - Guardian

The Real Crisis in Pakistan , by Fouad Pervez - FPIF

Changing Pakistan , by Praful Bidwai - Frontline

Pakistan Amidst the Storms , by Graham Usher - MERIP

Council on Foreign Relations

As Afghanistan Roils, Pakistan Draws Heat - CFR

Council Report Calls for New U.S.-Pakistan Partnership to Confront Militants in Tribal Areas - CFR

Securing Pakistan's Tribal Belt - CFR

Afghanistan

Afghanistan supply line 1988

General

How to Save Afghanistan , by Rory Stewart - Time

Taliban Propaganda: Winning the War of Words? - ICG

The art of asymmetric warfare , by Jason Burke - Guardian

It Takes a School, Not Missiles , by Nicholas D. Kristof - NYT

The Dream Of Afghan Democracy Is Dead , by Anatol Lieven - FT via NAF

The Taliban’s Baghdad Strategy - Newsweek

Taliban conflict 'cannot be won' in Afghanistan - The Australian

Nangarhar Elders Demand Retribution for US Air Strike - IWPR

Pashtuns - academic papers

Badal: A Culture of Revenge. The Impact of Collateral Damage on Taliban Insurgency (pdf), by Raja G. Hussain - Naval Postgraduate School

Weapons of the not so Weak in Afghanistan: Pashtun Agrarian Structure and Tribal Organization for Times of War & Peace (pdf), by Thomas J. Barfield - Yale

Culture, heritage

Prophet's cloak can't shelter Kandahar from terror - Globe and Mail

Restoring Past Glory in Old Kabul - WP

Undaunted - First Rory Stewart walked the breadth of Afghanistan. Then he took up a real challenge: restoring traditional architecture in Kabul - Smithsonian

Should Buddhas Blasted by the Taliban Be Rebuilt? - Time

Rediscovering treasures of Bamiyan - BBC

Pictures, paintings, images, photos

Website gallery

Kamat's Potpourri - The History, Mystery, and Diversity of India (and lots of pictures) - a treasure-trove of historical photographs -- common Indians, uncommon Indians and extra-ordinary Indians. A very large website -- perhaps the largest personal website on the web, and readers are encouraged to dig deep into the site for a complete experience.

Cows and culture

La mucca è cultura - Italian site devoted to cows in art, culture and history. Specially recommended are

Mucca francobollo , Mucca figurina , Mucca della domenica

Photo series

Calcutta - India at 1947

10 most beautiful Indian roads

On the road to Alang

World’s Largest 38500-meal Solar Kitchen in India

Blogs, Wikis

Blogs

Vikram Sood's Perspectives... A former intelligence chief's take on global security issues ranging from terrorism, energy, geo-politics, nuclear proliferation, US, China, India, Pakistan, Middle East and Central Asia

Rupee News: Recording History, Narrating Archives, Strategic Vision, Profound Analysis, Unique Ideas

A wide angle view of India - balanced and reliable information on a variety of subjects, mostly India-centric

Another Subcontinent - South Asian society and culture

Pak Tea House - to revive the culture of debate, pluralism and tolerance

The Pakistan Policy Blog - a regular, critical perspective on Pakistan’s domestic and foreign affairs

Lanka Page - Inside the Sri Lanka smoking gun

Reference - Wiki

HinduWiki - a wiki exclusivly about Hinduism

SikhiWiki - a free Sikh Encyclopedia and learning tool...

26 July, 2008

Intellectuals - Muslim, Asian, Chinese

Intellectuals of the World

The top 10 are all Muslims - two from the Subcontinent, one Subcontinental from Africa, the rest from the Middle East

The World’s Top 20 Public Intellectuals - Foreign Policy

"How Could You Not Include..." - Foreign Policy

Yoichi Funabashi - one non-Muslim Asian on the not included list - Japan, ICG

Intellectuals—the results , all 100 - Prospect

Two Turks

Turkey's most important political voice

Orhan Pamuk - Wikipedia