In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

The Asia Foundation released its annual survey Afghanistan in 2010: A Survey of the Afghan People on November 9 in Kabul. To reflect current trends and perceptions, we added a new chapter to this year’s survey to capture Afghans’ perception on their government’s efforts at reconciliation: and the results were that Afghans are surprisingly sympathetic. [...]

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On November 9, The Asia Foundation released its 6th Survey of the Afghan People, the broadest annual public opinion poll in Afghanistan, covering all 34 provinces in the country. In Asia spoke with this year’s survey co-authors Mohammad Osman Tariq, Najla Ayoubi, and Fazel Rabi Haqbeen from the Foundation’s Afghanistan office, on what makes this [...]

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Heavy rains greeted President Obama Tuesday afternoon as he arrived in Jakarta for his long-awaited, twice postponed “homecoming.” But the rain couldn’t dampen the excitement of Jakarta residents at the arrival of this highly popular U.S. president. Indonesians have a very personal sense of affection and pride for President Obama –largely due to his childhood [...]

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During his much-anticipated trip to India this week, President Obama mesmerized his diverse audiences in Mumbai, Delhi, and the country at large, with gracious participation from First Lady Michelle Obama. His speech to India’s Parliament with references to Gandhiji, Swami Vivekananda, Tagore, and Ambedkar, interspersed with Hindi words, literally left his audience speechless. He emphatically [...]

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When I first visited Vietnam in 1989 as a young graduate student, the country had recently undergone the doi moi, or economic reform policy, but there weren’t any physical signs of change yet. Hanoi in April 1989 was a gray city, preternaturally quiet with bicycles as the main mode of transportation, and electricity limited to [...]

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On a hot morning in early October, 25 local community members, police officials, and Grama Niladharis (village heads) crowded into the local conference room to discuss eight recent cases of crime and conflict concerning the community of Gampola in central Sri Lanka. These women and men, young and old, gathered for Gampola’s monthly community policing [...]

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President Obama’s three-day visit to New Delhi starting Saturday comes at an opportune moment. It will set at rest doubts, voiced since he took office, on the longevity of the bipartisan concord that was built upon strengthening bilateral relations with India. It was President Bill Clinton’s landmark visit in 2000 in the last year of [...]

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The last decade witnessed a remarkable transformation in U.S.-India relations, initiated, supported, and advanced by the leadership of both countries. I had the privilege of travelling with President Clinton in March 2000 for his five-day visit to India, a trip many observers consider the “turning point” in our new relationship. Now it will be President [...]

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Asia Foundation trustee and CSIS South Asia Program Director Teresita C. Schaffer recently authored a working paper commissioned in conjunction with the landmark report released by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) entitled “Natural Allies: A Blueprint for the Future of U.S.-India Relations.” Below is an excerpt from Schaffer’s paper. India and the [...]

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Asia Foundation trustee and former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security and founder and co-chair of the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group Kenneth I. Juster recently co-authored a working paper commissioned in conjunction with the landmark report released by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) entitled “Natural Allies: A Blueprint [...]

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