Incredible but true! Libya’s scary dictator Muammar Gaddafi may also be on his way out. His soldiers killed 200 people in Benghazi, the most important urban center after the capital Tripoli, but then refused to shoot anymore. His personal residence in Benghazi, which is like a luxury tent city protected by his personal elite militia, has been taken over by the people. It seems that the militia is at the airport and may fly out soon. All of this is not entirely clear, but sporadic messages from...

Algerians and Yemenis are in the streets risking their lives against dictatorships more brutal and venal than that of the deposed Hosni Mubarak but their faith in the Egyptian people’s triumph is premature. Although the repressive constitution and rubber-stamp parliament have been suspended, the bare fact is that the state has slipped into full military rule. Egyptians are far from free yet. Meanwhile Israel is exposed to extraordinary threat, particularly if the Gaza border is not as tightly sealed...

Sadly, Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and the army are preparing to shoot live rounds at pro-democracy protestors even as Hosni Mubarak refuses to step down. Mubarak’s obduracy will anger the White House but Suleiman may believe that he has tacit support from the Obama administration to put down protests before they snowball further. The gap between Suleiman and the demonstrators remains very large since they want not only Mubarak’s head but also a change of Constitution and parliament....

As Egypt teeters on the brink, potentially affecting the fate of 400 million Arabs and over a billion Muslims, Europe is gradually sliding to a brink of its own. And Barack Obama may yet become the President that started America’s international decline because of a trust deficit over values that America professes to uphold since its founding. Together, the Muslim world and Europe contain nearly two billion people. With them, the trust deficit is emerging. The issue is not about President Obama’s...

Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak may be on an outbound flight soon but that will not be the end of this saga of the people’s rebellion. He may give up, but the authoritarian system he established and which nourished him will stay. Changing that will be much harder than ousting the President. Mubarak is looking for a dignified way out. He has been an emperor. He wants to leave without humiliation. To that end on Tuesday, he offered not to stand for the Presidency and finish his term next September. But...

The chief casualty of more bloodshed in Egypt to prop up Hosni Mubarak will be Israel’s security. The stakes for Israel are very high. Its only protectors in the Middle East are Mubarak and his coterie because most ordinary Egyptians hate Israel as do Islamists throughout the Arab world. Even Egypt’s armed forces that receive at least $1.3 billion in annual aid from the US see Israel as the archenemy. If Mubarak falls, the 30-year-old understandings between him and Tel Aviv will be unraveled...

Following Hosni Mubarak’s speech on Friday, the showdown on Egyptian streets has taken a dangerous turn and the White House may have to share the blame if blood flows more freely in coming days. Hours before the speech, army soldiers and tanks fanned through Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other locations where protesters are gathered despite a permanent curfew and Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, chief of staff of Egypt’s armed forces, left Washington in a hurry. In Cairo, a belief is spreading that Enan...

As anti-government demonstrations in Egypt gather force, Tuesday’s huge turnout could be the game changer that sets the country and the Arab world on the path for which pro-democracy, and human rights campaigners have long fought. Demonstrations against Hosni Mubarak’s steel-fisted regime were banned in 1981 and secret service and police, which are the main forces behind him, have always been harsh in repression. But they seemed to hesitate on Tuesday and only two protesters were killed out...

Both President Barack Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao lost an opportunity today by agreeing to disagree on the key issues instead of making the concessions needed to increase job creation in the US and reduce social inequality in China. Many in Europe and around the world were relieved to see that a G-2 compact on how to manage the world remains far from view because Obama’s charismatic charm is having little effect on Hu. The tough as nails Hu sees the vital interests of his ruling Communist...

The Jasmine revolution in Tunisia holds a beacon of renewal for the North African Arab countries (Algeria, Morocco and Egypt), if it succeeds in permanently dethroning dictatorship. Dictator Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled for 23 years through repression while enriching his family, fled to Saudi Arabia leaving the Prime Minister in charge. But the tens of thousands of people confronting the government on the streets refused to accept a surrogate of the President. Within hours Parliament Speaker...

Wars are becoming worse despite the world’s growing wealth, the grief of decent people and countless peace talks by the United Nations. This reality is worth confronting as we enter the new century’s second decade. Silence is dangerous. There are wars visible in the media as in Iraq and Afghanistan, less visible as in Indonesia, Bolivia and the Congo, and near-forgotten as in Darfur, Myanmar and Thailand. In all of them, the innocent and those least able to defend themselves are dying and being...

Even as India basks in the respect showered on it as a player on the global stage by President Barack Obama, a wave of despondency is rising among almost all sections of the people at the rampant corruption corroding its politicians, bureaucrats and media. Recent revelations indicate misappropriation of nearly $900 million in various scams orchestrated by senior politicians, ministers and top officials. The latest episode was the disappearance of some $200 million in the run up to the 2010 Commonwealth...

President Barack Obama’s visit to India has set the foundations for a deep and broad partnership that will create a new powerbase in Asia alongside China if things go as planned. I am currently in Delhi for the visit and can report a new openness and realism in the bilateral dialogue taking the relationship to a more robust level. The basic and urgent needs of most Indians are “bijli, sarak, pani”, meaning electricity, roads and safe water. The visit set the foundations for this kind of socially...

Reactions in many parts of Europe and Asia are muted although the debacle of the Democrats and Barack Obama in the midterm elections may change domestic politics for a long time or even make him a one term President. Most are waiting to see how he handles his weakened Presidency in coming weeks before revealing their cards. The main concern is about the quality of governance in America. Fear is growing of Congressional gridlock so severe that putting faith and trust in American leadership in world...

President Barack Obama has begun sculpting political realignments in Asia that could put his stamp on geopolitics. After over 15 years of neglect, he is trying to build a new vision for South East Asia and the Far East, which are emerging global power hubs expected to become richer than Europe. But the likely humiliation of Democrats in the mid-term elections will deal another blow to respect for America and its President. It is no longer like 10 years ago and has slipped further since the economic...

Afghanistan’s woes, Pakistan’s chaotic internal affairs and America’s discomfiture in the Af-Pak region are creating a power vacuum that Beijing is working diligently and with quiet focus to fill. As Chinese power seeps in, Delhi is watching nervously to assess whether Beijing will be a menace or a friend. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is very keen to use President Barack Obama’s visit to Delhi in November to establish irreversible momentum towards warm and open relations with the...

The appointment of Kim Jong-un, who is only about 27 years old, as a general of the North Korean army is a fascinating development that could favor the United States and all those hoping for internal changes capable of ending the country’s belligerent isolation from the international community. There is speculation that this elevation signals his anointment at a later stage as Kim Jong-il’s successor because the dictator’s health may be declining after slow recovery from a stroke two years...

America’s combat mission in Iraq has ended but exiting from the quicksand without its dignity in tatters remains a long shot. The chief culprit may be clouded vision in Washington rather than fractious Iraqi politics. The key players, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were prudently non-triumphal in their comments as they inaugurated Operation New Dawn in Iraq. But Obama did say that his goals still include an Iraqi government that is “just, representative...

China’s rapid emergence as a financial super power may challenge the US less than some opponents of President Barack Obama and a few independent analysts would have us believe. In fact, Beijing’s financial ascendancy is a paper tiger and its wider economy could become a responsible friend. It is true that the financial power driving China is spectacular. With foreign exchange reserves of more than $2.4 trillion at the end of 2009, the People’s Bank of China is richer than any other central...

In the rough and tumble worlds of Afghanistan and Pakistan, General Stanley McChrystal’s dismissal looks more like the act of a President floundering in a labyrinth than of a statesman steering a brutal war with sure hands. President Barack Obama may have to pay a heavy price for buttressing the impression among battle-hardened nationalist, insurgents and terrorists that neither the American people nor his senior military and civilian brass is fully behind him. In those countries, few find it...

About one third of the normal fly zone over Europe will be reopened on Tuesday as anger began to boil with over seven million airline passengers stranded around the world. Airline losses are estimated at more than $200 million a day and losses to business may run into billions (there are no reliable estimates yet). Surprisingly it took five days for the ministers to agree on a meeting held by teleconference because of airport closures in most of Europe. The closures were ordered by governments based...

Some foreign policy decisions are causing Barack Obama to be seen as an enigma wrapped in a riddle. The issue is not whether he is tough or a pushover prone to poetic speeches. It is whether he is law-abiding in international relations when under pressure or an illusionist throwing wool over foreign eyes? The current concern is over his decision to target an American citizen for assassination without offering hard proof of involvement in actual terrorist acts. American Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical...

For governments that mistrust US intentions, Barack Obama’s new restraints on nuclear weapons hold little comfort in a world where “pilots” wielding joysticks as far away as Colorado launch deadly missiles from drones flying 24/7 over Pakistan’s badlands. Almost no government, not even allies like Britain, Germany and France, fully trust American intentions. Of course, nobody expects the US to use military force of any kind against friends and others that do not harm its citizens. But none...

Congressional wars underlying the health care summit are making cynical headlines around the world but the US still has what it takes for domestic and foreign policy success. Its economy is 25% of global GDP and it has the ability to project power forcefully across oceans and continents. Combined with these unique powers, are two other great strengths. The US has the most innovative and educated people and the dollar remains the de facto reserve currency to the world. Talk of America’s decline...

Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai has bent to strong American pressure to join the Marja city and Helmand Province offensives but his goal may be to keep the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan for a long time. From the US viewpoint, the Marja offensive is the only course with a reasonable chance of creating the conditions for a Karzai administration take over, allowing the coalition to start exiting Afghanistan. This is because the two major cities of the country’s Pashtun regions, Marja and Kandahar,...