Pakistan’s glamorous new foreign minister wows India

Posted By Robert Zeliger Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 5:07 PM She's young, stylish, sharp and pretty, and Indians are falling for her. Yep, it seems that Pakistan's new 34-year-old foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, has accomplished what years of tense diplomacy haven't been able to -- create some genuine goodwill...

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Is America Caught In The Closed Mind Trap?

By: Paul Craig Roberts Opednews.com July 27, 2011 at 00:04:48 A reader responded to my recent column about how the US president was becoming a Caesar with a question: "Wouldn't a Caesar be preferable to a democracy in which the people are too ignorant, disinterested, and stupid to engage in self-government?" Before I became a widely read columnist with many reader responses, I would have disagreed with the reader's characterization of the American people. Today, I cannot answer the reader's question with a "no" as confidently as I would...

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Karzai outlines ‘conditions’ for future US ties

KABUL, July 26: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday outlined conditions governing negotiations for a future strategic partnership with the United States as he met defence chiefs at his palace. The new US ambassador in Kabul, Ryan Crocker, has said the US has no interest in permanent military bases in the country and does not want to project its influence in the region by remaining in Afghanistan. But fears remain among many Afghans over any long-term American presence in the country following the departure of all foreign combat troops...

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Agenda for reform

WITHOUT belittling the polit ical economy challenges that face reform in Pakistan, I believe that the time just may have come for long-overdue fun damental reforms, and not just because of the urgency of effect ing these changes. In this writer’s view, there is a dis cernible shift in the public narrative (being admirably piloted by the media) which is demanding better quality gover nance (the core issue) and leadership. With little sympathy shown by our external partners, there is a growing real isation that we have to solve our...

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