Pakistan was built on a rejection of secularism, democracy and pluralism: everything India stood for. It established itself as a Muslim country, and politicians eventually clarified exactly who is “Muslim” according to the Constitution.As the Army battles the Pakistani Taliban, that definition is under dispute. As Feisal Naqvi writes in an illuminating article in Pakistan’s Express […]

The Washington Post‘s ‘The Fix’ blog has some bad news for Democrats: their attempts to paint Paul Ryan as an extremist fringe candidate seem to have failed. A new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll asked Americans to say what one word comes to mind when they think about the GOP vice presidential nominee. And people […]

China launched its first aircraft carrier, an antique bought from Ukraine, about a year ago to much fanfare in China and hand wringing abroad. The international media saw this as a “potent” sign of China’s growing naval prowess.But the carrier is still a long way from being a battle-ready warship. Reuters reports: Despite public anticipation […]

The latest Pew survey of the state of America’s middle class doesn’t mince words: the subtitle of the report is “smaller, poorer, gloomier.” The lost decade for our middle-class is something to lament in itself, but its effect on the upcoming election may be equally significant.According to Pew’s data, President Obama is enjoying a slight […]

Reports have surfaced that India has deployed half a dozen refueling aircraft at Panagarh, an Indian Army and Air Force base in West Bengal, as a supplement to fighter planes deployed on the Chinese border. Rajeev Sharma in The Diplomat sees this as a sign that India is “upping the ante” with China: However, the latest […]

This week the Turkish Press noted the announcement by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu that number of Syrian refugees residing in Turkey has reached 70,000. Davutoğlu reiterated that, should the number rise to 100,000, Turkey will seriously consider unilateral armed action to establish “secure zones” for the refugees. (CNNTurk)Valerie Amos, the UN emergency relief coordinator dealing […]

The recent DUI arrests of a distinguished, high-profile U.S. diplomat and a senior clergyman should serve as sobering reminders that alcohol, for many people, is a dangerous drug. Each year thousands of lives are lost in alcohol-related driving accidents. There are plenty of alcohol fueled celebrity meltdowns as well as alcohol can make a bad […]

The WSJ has profiled a hedge fund manager and high-level donor to the Romney/Ryan campaign whose political views break significantly with Republican Party orthodoxy: This behind-the-scenes influence has prompted chatter in GOP circles that [Paul] Singer, already an informal policy adviser to the Romney campaign, might be offered a job in a potential Republican administration. Mr. […]

The latest sign of economic weakness in Asia comes from Japan. The government’s monthly report on the economy was downgraded for the first time in ten months: The downgrade highlights the vulnerability of Japan’s economic recovery to slowing global growth, as concerns over the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis chill demand in key export […]

The time to save the euro is running out, but there is one tentative flicker of hope beaming over the stormy scene: Germany and France seem to be working together again.After Chancellor Merkel supported Sarkozy against Hollande in the French presidential race, relations between the two countries that historically run Europe were strained. But according […]