From PINR, an article on how India's interests are at stake in its relationship with China. A review of The Elephant and the Dragon The Rise of India and China, and What It Means for All of Us by Robyn Meredith. A review of The Dragon and the Elephant: China, India and the World Order by David Smith. Possessing two of the fastest growing economies in the world, India and China have long cast wary eyes at one another, especially over disputed border territories. The recent upsurge in military exchanges and cooperation between China and India has focused on two contentious issues: counter-terrorism and joint military exercises. From Asia Times, an article on India's quiet sea power and an interview with Andrew Field on China's primal scream.
From FrontPage, an interview with Ami Gluska, author of The Israeli Military and the Origins of the 1967 War: Government, Armed Forces and Defence Policy 1963-67; and an interview with Mitchell Bard, author of Will Israel Survive? A review of Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T.E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn, and the Seeds of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Ronald Florence. A review of The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In by Hugh Kennedy.
From Cafe Babel, Switzerland: Very rich, yes, very neutral, but... too isolated? On 1 August Switzerland celebrated its national holiday, but still isn't any closer to joining the EU, whose policy it is often subject to but cannot influence. Of finance and philosophy: France's finance minister has asked her countrymen to stop philosophising and start working. But she doesn't realise how lucrative thinking can be. A look at how rightwing Nicolas Sarzoky is pursuing a political strategy learned from Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Squaring the circle is a proverbial way of describing something impossible. Jacques-Guillaume Thouret set himself an even more daunting task: squaring the hexagône.
From The Nation, we need a law to define and limit the President's claim of executive privilege, and should set a process for Congress to overcome it. Challenging the GOP's Filibluster: The Senate Democrats' strategy in dealing with Republican obstruction hasn't worked so far. Here's what they should do instead. Russ Feingold is not from the real world: The maverick senator, subject of a new biography, is the latest embodiment of a long and unique Wisconsin tradition. From Brainwash, an interview with Mike Gravel, Liberaltarian? That Old-Time Religion: John Derbyshire on the Ron Paul temptation. A review of No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner by Robert Shrum.
