June 30, 2011
Amnesty International
Abstract:
This report updates Amnesty International’s Breaking the law: Crackdown on human rights
lawyers and legal activists in China (ASA 17/042/2009) published in 2009. Focusing on
new regulatory and policy instruments, the current report documents how the government
exerts control over lawyers in three ways: first, by trying to rein in their behaviour through
increasing demands to conform to party ideology; second, by using administrative procedures
to discipline and stop lawyers and others who have taken on human rights cases; and third,
by carrying out violent acts, illegal under China’s own laws, against people who persist when
all other forms of pressure on them have failed to end their human rights activism. In the most extreme case, human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has now been forcibly disappeared for
more than a year in a second lengthy detention, leading to serious concerns for his safety. In
the last few months, other lawyers have also been subject to enforced disappearances; most
recently, Shanghai lawyer Li Tiantian was held incommunicado for three months before being
released in her home town in Xinjiang on 24 May 2011.
The report also sets out the latest developments in the cases highlighted in the 2009 report,
considers ways lawyers have challenged efforts to control them, and analyzes recent trends in
the development of the rule of law and in patterns of repression. It provides some evidence of
the impact that controls on human rights lawyers have had on citizens access to justice....
June 28, 2011
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
The sea lanes of Indo-Pacific Asia are becoming more crowded, contested and
vulnerable to armed strife. The changing deterrence and
warfighting strategies of China, the United States and Japan involve expanded
maritime patrolling and intrusive surveillance, bringing an uncertain mix of
stabilising and destabilising effects.
Nationalism and resource needs, meanwhile, are reinforcing the value of territorial
claims in the East and South China seas, making maritime sovereignty disputes
harder to manage. Chinese forces continue to show troubling signs of assertiveness
at sea, though there is debate about the origins or extent of such moves. All of these factors are making Asia a danger zone for incidents at sea.
While the chance that such incidents will lead to major military clashes should not be
overstated, the drivers – in particular China’s frictions with the United States, Japan
and India – are likely to persist and intensify. As the number and tempo of incidents
increases, so does the likelihood that an episode will escalate to armed confrontation,
diplomatic crisis or possibly even conflict.
This report, part of the Lowy Institute’s MacArthur Foundation Asia Security
Project, explores the major-power maritime security dynamics surrounding China’s
rise. It focuses on the risks and the management of incidents at sea involving Chinese
interactions with the United States, Japan and India. The report concludes with some realistic recommendations to reduce risks of crisis
and escalation under conditions of continued mistrust....
June 9, 2011
Peace and Conflict Studies Center
Abstract:
After World War II, nations got largely divided between the two blocs dominated
by the United States of America (USA) and the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR). With the end of the Cold War, the international power equation
unilaterally shifted towards the USA, which emerged as the world’s only superpower.
Since then, the regional, ethnic, linguistic, resource, geo-political, and religious
issues began to have more importance. But, whenever a state failed to
properly address these problems, the latent conflicts turned violent. Poor and
developing countries have been found more vulnerable to violent conflicts due to
inequality in distribution of resources and opportunities, inadequate service delivery
system, injustice to identities and beliefs, ineffective governance and administration,
inefficient socio-political transformation and intolerant leadership. Therefore,
while most violent conflicts of the twentieth century were waged between
the states, almost all the major conflicts around the world that took place in the
1990s were fought within the state. As a result, the frequency and intensity of the
volatile internal conflicts are significantly increasing in number around the world.
Between 1989 and 1996, 95 of the 101 armed conflicts identified around the
world were such internal confrontations. Describing the intensity
of the violent conflicts around the world, Bishnu Raj Upreti writes: “In 1999 there
were 40 armed conflicts being fought within the territories of 36 countries, up
from 36 armed conflicts in 31 countries in 1998, and 37 in 32 countries in 1997.
The People’s War initiated in Nepal in 1996 is considered as the creation of
interwoven and complex web of socioeconomic, legal and politico-ideological problems.
Little attention was paid to it in the beginning both at national and international
levels, but it quickly intensified across the country. It has now become
Nepal’s most pressing political, socio-cultural and economic problem.
The escalation of armed violence due to the People’s War has resulted in disruption
of lives, livelihoods and security; serious damage or destruction of public
and private properties; possible disintegration of unity in diversity and disturbance in harmonious relationship among communities; massive exodus and displacement
of people; and increased hardship for the poor, marginalized, disadvantaged
and vulnerable people in getting access to basic needs, resources and services as
basic rights. I agree with Upreti as he writes, “When conflict escalates into violence
and civil war, persuasive despair, sorrow, and grief are the unwanted realities
and irrepressible damage to society is unavoidable. Building peace in such a
situation becomes far more costly and difficult than to address the root causes of
social conflict before it escalates into such violence”. Therefore, the
armed conflict or People’s War has become a grave threat to life, liberty, security
and dignity of poverty-stricken people and its frequency and intensity are continuously
escalating the violations and abuses of human rights in Nepal....
May 25, 2011
Center for a New American Security
Abstract:
The United States is at a strategic inflection point in South and Central Asia. The death of Osama bin Laden, together with the projected transition to a smaller U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, presents a new opportunity for the United States to protect its enduring interests in the region. In Beyond Afghanistan: A Regional Security Strategy for South and Central Asia, CNAS authors Lieutenant General David W. Barno, USA (Ret.), Andrew Exum and Matthew Irvine identify key priorities for the United States and the key components of a regional strategy in light of fast-changing current events.
This report culminates a year-long project examining the future of U.S. strategy in South and Central Asia given the pending drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Barno, Exum and Irvine examine U.S. relationships with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, and offer immediate and long-term policy recommendations for protecting U.S. interests in the region....
May 3, 2011
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
Despite perceptions in Washington and New Delhi that China enjoys unique privileges and exercises inordinate influence in Pakistan, Beijing has shown little inclination to directly shape Pakistani behavior. As China’s global portfolio of economic and security interests expands, it is increasingly sensitive to new opportunity costs entailed in sustaining the Sino-Pakistani partnership.
China 
