"Anthony Cordesman, "Iraqi Perceptions of the War: Public Opinion by City and Region," May 2, 2007, released by CSIS. Available at: http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,3868/type,1/ Some of the study's observations: * Most Iraqis still want a unified country - only the Kurds want federalism; * 78% of Iraqis oppose the presence of U.S. forces on their soil, though far fewer favor an immediate pullout; * Most Iraqis thought the surge -- sending additional...

I attended the annual fundraising gala of the American India Foundation in New York on Friday evening, where it was announced by the co-chairmen, Victor Menezes and Rajat K. Gupta, that the six-year-old nonprofit had raised a record $3 million at its dinner. This is an astonishing figure, and a tribute to the skills of the AIF staff, particularly its executive director, Pradeep Kashyap. The foundation helps with education, computer literacy, women's employment, and health projects involvin...

I attended a benefit last Saturday evening in New York organized by Sakhi, a remarkable nonprofit organization that assists battered and abused women of South Asian origin. The venue was the cavernous SkyLight Lounge in SoHo, and it was elegantly done up. Instead of a typical fundraising dinner where people are required to sit at pre-assigned tables, there was open seating -- on diwans and couches -- so that people could help themselves from an assortment of buffet tables, and then circulate ...

Very many years ago, when I was just starting out in journalism as a copyboy at The New York Times, I wrote a letter to David Halberstam. I told him how much I'd enjoyed reading his book, "The Best and the Brightest." I told him that I thought that I'd never read a more compelling work of nonfiction, and that I found his style totally engaging. To my surprise, I received a hand-written thank-you note from David. I still have it. Over the next four decades, I got several opportunities to me...

The Times of India has an excellent article today (April 24) in which the paper says that although coalition politics might require parties to make compromises on their ideology, the parties haven't by any means jettisoned their driving ideology. Here's a telling quote: "Even Congress is unable to shake off much of its ideological baggage. For most of Man mohan Singh's tenure as prime minister, Congress has been harping on economic reform and growth. However, Congress hasn't been able to aban...

Shashi Tharoor, an established author and self-styled celebrity -- and unsuccessful candidate for UN secretary general -- is now taking on India's minister of commerce and industry, Kamal Nath. Tharoor committed himself to responding to questions for Nath's forthcoming book, "India's Century: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Energy in the World's Biggest Democracy," to be published by McGraw-Hill in August. When those questions were e-mailed to him, he suddenly decided he was too busy to respond. H...

It's been a while since I was last in New Delhi. I'm astonished by the acceleration in energy. Change is everywhere -- from the new roads and buildings, to the shopping centers. Most of all, there's a new attitude toward economic progress. It's also winter in Delhi, a time of crisp mornings and bracing evenings. How lovely to be in India again.

World Bank's Report on South Asia's prospects From the World Bank report at: www.worldbank.org/sar: In 2006, GDP in South Asia is estimated to have expanded at a very rapid pace of 8.2%. Factors contributing to this trend: * Progress in promoting private sector–led growth * Improved macro-management * Greater integration with the global economy * Loose monetary and fiscal policies and strong remittance inflows have boosted domestic demand * Restrictions on Chinese exports of t...

Interview: Kamal Nath (Forbes Asia, November 27, 2006) By Pranay Gupte Kamal Nath, India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, is widely credited with raising his country's profile in the global arena – and with persuading ever increasing numbers of foreign sources to invest in the booming Indian economy. A longtime member of the Congress Party, Nath has served as Minister of the Environment and Forests, and of Textiles, in prior administrations. He's believed to be particularly close ...

There is no "Third World" model of political or economic development any more -- if ever there was a credible one. Indeed, the very term "Third World" is no longer en vogue -- it's as though there was a race and "we" of the "Third World" (meaning, of course, denizens and citizens of the world's 135 developing countries) came in third. Third to whom? The East Europeans and Soviets, notionally the "Second World"? Third to the "First World," the 30 members of the OECD, the Paris-base...

The assassination in Beirut yesterday of a prominent leader of Lebanon's anti-Syrian Christian community, Pierre Gemayel, deepened the country's sectarian crisis, and created a new opportunity for Hezbollah to transform the secular state into an Islamic theocratic one irrevocably opposed to the existence of Israel. The murder also triggered new concern on the part of the Bush administration about a region that has already been burdened with uncertainty over the Iraq war, Syria's bellicosit...

The assassination in Beirut today of a prominent leader of Lebanon's anti-Syrian Christian community, Pierre Gemayel, deepened the country's sectarian crisis, and created a new opportunity for Hezbollah to transform the secular state into an Islamic theocratic one irrevocably opposed to the existence of Israel. The murder also triggered new concern on the part of the Bush administration about the region's stability. It had supported Gemayel, citing him as representative of a new breed of L...

The talks between high-level diplomats of India and Pakistan in New Delhi this week on security issues have been mainly make-nice, a well-intentioned effort aimed not so much at domestic constituents but at a faraway player whose beneficence both countries covet. That player, of course, is President Bush. More than any American president, he has engaged Washington more closely with the two countries – both nuclear powers – whose bitter mutual enmity has been exceeded only by their riva...

It would be interesting to elicit views on the Bush Administration's two-track approach to nuclear proliferation -- its sturdy promotion of selling nuclear technology to India -- notwithstanding critics in Congress and elsewhere -- and its escalating bellicosity toward Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. There are striking similarities in the positions that both India and Iran have taken. Both insist that their nuclear plans are focused on meeting civilian needs. India's population of 1....

To those of us who’ve followed Frank Rich’s political essays and postings, the election results offered further evidence of his acuity. Frank has been spot on. It would be a disservice to term him the “Karl Rove” of the Left (or the media). But if the moniker could be considered benign, then I would certainly apply it to Frank — that is to say, Frank’s reading of the culture has been at least as sharp as that of Rove’s during the latter’s early reign as President Bush’s guru-in-residence. ...