China is weighing up whether to open an Indian Ocean naval base in the Seychelles in a move which will heighten tensions with India amid fears of a regional arms race. A Seychelles base would serve Chinese vessels transporting more of Beijing’s already established influence to Africa Photo: Alamy By Peter Simpson, Beijing and Dean Nelson in New Delhi Beijing’s Defence Ministry confirmed it was considering an offer from the Seychelles government to establish a port to supply its anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden. But the move was met with concern in India as it announced it was increasing its military spending to … Continue reading China considers Seychelles military base plan

Broken Promises: America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death and a Long Road Home By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report A medic talks to an Iraqi civilian with help from a translator. (Photo: Jametiks)A young Iraqi interpreter named Ali was riding with members of the United States Army 1st Armored Division on a 2003 midnight raid outside of Baghdad when the driver made a mistake in the darkness and their armored Bradley vehicle flipped into a canal. Ali was bleeding from the head, but maintained his composure and acted fast as water filled the vehicle. Loren Ferguson, a combat medic who was in the … Continue reading Do America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death?

  By Vinay Lal, Economic & Political Weekly | Book Review (Image: Melville House Books)The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future edited by Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel (Brooklyn, New York: Melville House), 2010; $18.95. In the euphoria over the “Arab Spring”, which has brought revolutions to the doorsteps of autocratic regimes that only last year seemed unflappable in their resolve to keep the aspirations of their peoples suppressed, it becomes imperative to recall that the first sustained signs of change in west Asia in recent years appeared in Iran. The Arab world seemed so firmly in the … Continue reading Iran’s Revolution and the Global Politics of Resistance

Broken Promises: America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death and a Long Road Home By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report A medic talks to an Iraqi civilian with help from a translator. (Photo: Jametiks)A young Iraqi interpreter named Ali was riding with members of the United States Army 1st Armored Division on a 2003 midnight raid outside of Baghdad when the driver made a mistake in the darkness and their armored Bradley vehicle flipped into a canal. Ali was bleeding from the head, but maintained his composure and acted fast as water filled the vehicle. Loren Ferguson, a combat medic who was in the … Continue reading Do America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death?

By Brian M Downing Over the past 10 years, the Taliban have recovered from their ouster and established a presence in half of Afghanistan’s districts, where they have become a de facto government in many of them. The Afghan government is frail and unwilling to reform. The United States is war-weary and looking for the way out. Negotiations are in the offing. One American and two Britons were killed this week by Afghan soldiers in separate incidents, bringing the number of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops killed in 2012 to 16. These 16 service members – 18% of the … Continue reading Taliban’s peace options limited?

Tehmina Kazi argues equality must be at the forefront of the Arab revolution ast October, I attended a hugely productive discussion on women in the Arab revolutions at the ‘Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society’ in Normandy. Over a thousand delegates listened, enraptured by spirited activists from Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi gave the keynote speech on the future of Arab women. She posed some very searching questions on the veracity and longevity of any gains for women in hotspots where dictators have been ousted and democratic elections are finally taking place. It is more … Continue reading The Arab Womens Place – is beside the men in the Arab Revolt!