S. Nihal Singh

Dec 08, 2010

Anna’s political plunge

You win some and lose some, and in the case of the latest Anna Hazare agitation in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, he was the loser. To begin with, the frequent use of fasts which are never taken to their logical conclusion has become rather tiring, as the leader himself acknowledged.

Assad regime is nearing end

As events are galloping in Syria and its neighbours, there is some clarity on where they are leading to. The country is in the midst of a civil war, with the military might of the Syrian Army matched by an increasingly militarised Opposition aided and abetted by external elements, including state actors.

A friend or adversary?

If China remains an enigma for India, it is for good reasons. Even as Beijing’s profile in the world grows bigger each day and its trade with New Delhi is rising, the political picture is murky at best with both sides sedulously play down the border dispute and Beijing saying little about its continuing love affair with Pakistan.

For Morsi and Egypt, challenges await

To call the election of Mr Mohammed Morsi as Egypt’s first elected President, that too belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, historic is an understatement. He is the first freely elected President in the country’s history.

Presidency is not apolitical

Two trends stem from the drama leading up to Pranab Mukherjee’s nomination for the presidency and subsequent developments: the limits to state leaders’ assertion of power and the very political nature of the contest for presidency.

Egypt’s search for another civilisation

Revolutions take strange paths. To many Egyptians, the results of the first round of the presidential election — their first in 5,000 years of history — are a cruel joke.

All eyes on Berlin

The crisis facing Europe today is starker and deeper than any it has encountered before.

India’s romance with Anna’s Lokpal is over

There was a magic moment about a year ago when Anna Hazare symbolised the wishes of millions in his resolve to slay the hydra-headed monster of corruption as revelations of scams multiplied and petty graft in a citizen’s dealings with authority proliferated. The fast at Delhi’s Ramlila Grounds was the culmination of a charged protest movement. The government scrambled for a compromise. Lokpal was the designated wand that would banish all wrongs and all hands weighed in.

A fraught continent

As the French presidential election goes through its expected denouement of a run-off, Europe is confronting a larger crisis set off by acute economic problems, which have translated into a psychologi

West Asia, Act 2

Revolutions never take a straight line. After a frustrated fruit vendor in Tunisia lit the spark of what came to be known as Arab Spring, Cairo’s Tahrir Square came to symbolise it.

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