In the past several years, both academics and policy analysts have widely commented on the economic resurgence of China and India. However, the strategic implications of the simultaneous rise of these Asian giants – both of whom are deeply suspicious of one another – are perhaps less well understood. The political leadership in both these states has been making largely positive statements regarding their bilateral relationship and their re-emergence in Asia and beyond. According to the Chinese President Hu Jintao, Beijing has always sought to promote “good neighborliness and friendly cooperation” with India from strategic and long-term perspectives.  And the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been on record saying that there was enough “space in the world to accommodate the ambitions of both India and China.”

The fate of Thailand’s fiercely contested democracy raises the spectre of rising authoritarianism in Southeast Asia. Such a potential authoritarian resurgence bears geopolitical implications in line with China’s interests at the expense of the preferences among liberal democratic major and middle powers such as the United States, Japan, Australia, and beyond.

Yet again Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, no doubt much to the delight of her host, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, declared in Islamabad last week that Kashmir remained an “impediment” in Indo-Pakistani relations. However, what she probably did not realise is that the meaning of the word “impediment” will be parsed very differently in Islamabad.

Very few people believe it. The Americans totally discard it. Financial observers do not write about it. Rating agencies turn up their noses at it. And yet, it is likely, almost certain that before 2020, the US will default on its sovereign debt.

There have been diverse views on the use of quotas to ensure women’s participation in politics. Those for the quota system have argued that it is the most effective way of achieving gender balance. The most successful equal representation of women and men in politics has been when quotas have been employed.