West Asia
Iran: Presidential election preview
Dina Esfandiary is an Iran specialist and a Research Associate in the Non-proliferation and Disarmament programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
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US Embassy in Pakistan the first to pass 1 million Facebook fans
The US Embassy in Pakistan has just cracked a diplomatic milestone, becoming the first mission in the world to pass 1 million fans on Facebook.
Its rise to top spot has been…
Why China is beating America to Middle Eastern oil. Or not.
A few days ago the New York Times ran a rather breathless story about how China has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of Iraq's post-Saddam oil boom. The story prompted a bit of…
Advice to McCain on Syria: Trust no one
It sounded so perfect. The hawkish Republican war hero John McCain visiting rebel-held Syrian territory to show the locals that not all US politicians are lily-livered liberals…
India links: China in Pakistan, cricket, women in work, Japan, Maoists, elections and more
Danielle Rajendram is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's International Security Program.
Times of India reports a cautious Chinese reaction to PM Manmohan Singh's…
Will Obama settle for Assad?
One of the paradoxes of the Syrian crisis has been the way Russia and China have worked determinedly to prevent America from doing something that it clearly does not want to do.
I…
Syria: Hizbullah's line in the sand
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's speech on Sunday (which the Iranians would have you believe was watched by Obama live) merely formalised what everyone has known for…
India links: Gandhi's blood, India poll 2013, Li Keqiang in New Delhi, and more
Danielle Rajendram is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's International Security Program whose work focuses on India and China-India relations.
In case you missed it,…
Eight is enough: Iran's elections
Iran's Guardian Council has stayed true to form, rejecting the vast majority of the 600 candidates who nominated to run in next month's presidential elections and approving just…
Australia's consular conundrum in Dubai
The harsh sentencing of Australian businessman Matthew Joyce in Dubai yesterday brings into sharp relief the Government's messaging on consular matters and the problems it…