A Wreath For Nelson Mandela
By Jayantha Dhanapala*
Madiba’s long walk through life has ended after 95 years.
It was an epic and inspirational journey of self-sacrifice for the causes he believed in; persecution and pain endured stoically; 27 years of solitary confinement amidst the deafening silence of the great powers who now join in acclaiming him; crowned with the final victory of liberating his people from the enslavement of apartheid to being equal partners in a non-racial democracy of which he was fittingly elected the first President.
India–Bangladesh: Treaty of Hope
By Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On October 7, 2013, Bangladesh's Cabinet ratified the Extradition Treaty with India. Disclosing this, Bangladesh Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan stated that the Cabinet meeting was chaired by Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, and that the treaty would now require the approval of the Parliament in order to come into effect, following the exchange of documents after legal procedures by both countries. The Indian Cabinet had already ratified the treaty. On October 23, 2013, the instruments of ratifications were exchanged, and the Treaty came into effect. The Extradition Treaty had been inked on January 29, 2013.
U.S. Troops Required Post-2014 Afghanistan
To Curb al-Qaeda’s Resurgence in Afghanistan, Recommends New CFR Report
By Seth G. Jones, Keith Crane
Following the recent endorsement of the U.S.-Afghanistan bilateral security agreement by Afghanistan's Loya Jirga, a new Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) report outlines the composition, role, and rationale for the roughly ten thousand U.S. troops that will possibly remain in the country after the 2014 drawdown. RAND Corporation's Seth G. Jones and Keith Crane explain in a new Council Special Report how the United States should manage the complex political, security, and economic challenges that will accompany the reduction in U.S. and allied forces. They argue for a force of eight to twelve thousand troops to assist Afghan national security forces and prevent a resurgence of al-Qaeda.
US-Pakistan Relations Knocked by New Drone Assault
By Zachary Fillingham*
US drone strikes have long been a sticking point in US-Pakistan relations. To the Obama administration, they are a key tool in the fight against terrorism, evident in the various high-ranking commanders they’ve eliminated from the regional militancy equation. To Islamabad, however, they represent a breach of state sovereignty, and their tendency to kill civilians serves to undermine government writ in Pakistan’s tribal territories.
Afghanistan: Connecting With The People
By Kathy Kelly *
I've been a guest in Colorado Springs , Colorado , following a weeklong retreat with Colorado College students who are part of a course focused on nonviolence. In last weekend's Colorado Springs Gazette , there was an article in the Military Life section about an international skype phone call between U.S. soldiers in Kandahar , Afghanistan and sixth grade girls at a private school in Maryland . (“ Carson Soldiers Chat With Friends” November 17, 2013 F4)
Afghanistan: Rationality Questions Insanity of War
By Mahboob A. Khawaja *
“We Are Going to Lose the War in Afghanistan and it will Help Bankrupt us. One of our major strategic blunders in Afghanistan was not to have recognized that both Great Britain and the Soviet Union attempted to pacify Afghanistan using the same military methods as ours and failed disastrously. We seem to have learned nothing from Afghanistan's modern history -- to the extent that we even know what it is. Between 1849 and 1947…..”
(Chalmers Johnson. Dismantling the Empire - America 's Last Best Hope: 8/2010).
Bangladesh: Clash of Titans
By S. Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
With less than three months left before the General Elections in Bangladesh (the term of the present Parliament expires on January 24, 2014) political tensions in the country are approaching a knife-edge, with mass mobilisation and violence escalating continuously, and the major political formations in the country increasingly polarized. The Opposition parties led by the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) have started a movement demanding a non-party Caretaker Government (CG) to oversee the next polls. A three-day countrywide shut down by the BNP between October 27-29, 2013, saw violent clashes between mobs and Police, and at least 10 persons were killed.
Bangladesh: Women’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development
By Tithe Farhana *
Despite Bangladesh’s reputation for deep religious and social conservatism, and despite reasonable concerns about women’s low economic participation and poor reproductive health, the labour participation rate of women in the country has risen in recent decades. What has been making the difference?
BANGLADESH: News Briefs
24 persons killed across the country during the week: 24 persons, including 21 civilians, four cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), and a trooper of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were killed during the week across the week. The killings took place in separate incidents during street violence unleashed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 18-party opposition alliance. Daily Star, November 26-December 1, 2013.
Nepal: A Clear Mandate for Uncertainty
By Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
People generally believed that the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) would be weakened electorally due to the split in the party in June 2012, but no one predicted a rout. After the announcement of results of most of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system seats, UCPN-M is all set to be the sore loser in the just concluded elections for the second Constituent Assembly (CA) in Nepal. The final results are, of course, yet to be announced, but the trends are already clear, and the available results put UCPN-M in a distant third position, behind the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).
NEPAL: News Briefs
NC emerges largest party in CA polls: On November 28, the Nepali Congress (NC) emerged as the largest party after counting of votes in the Proportional Representation (PR) system of the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls ended. The NC received 24,21,252 votes, followed by Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxists Leninist (CPN-UML) with 22,43,477, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) with 14,38,666 votes and pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal with 6,24,284 votes. The 601-member CA constitutes 240 members elected through direct voting, 335 via proportionate voting and 26 nominated by the Government. Times of India, November 29, 2013.
