Articles from the author

If you read the history of South Korean presidents during the past 54 years, then one would undoubtedly conclude that whoever occupies the Presidential Palace will certainly leave it with his reputation tarnished by some scandals at some time during their tenure.

It seems from the reports coming from North Korea that its enigmatic dictator Kim Jong Il has decided to implement an idea often discussed as a solution for North Korea's economic crisis, bleak isolation and disregard for values and norms established globally in the post-Cold War era.

It is indeed premature to confirm that the peace agreement signed in Geneva on December 8 between the representatives of the Indonesian government and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement (or Gerakan Aceh Merdaka, established in 1976) for ending one of the longest running civil wars in Southeast Asia will serve its purposes.

The recent legislative elections that took place in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir - over four rounds in September and October - have brought out a number of facts that can be summed up in the following:

As expected, on November 15 the 16th Conference of the Chinese Communist Party named Hu Jintao, a 59-year old technocrat, as the new leader of the party and state at the top of a relatively young leadership.

In response to a recent report by the anti-corruption organisation, International Transparency, in which Bangladesh came at the bottom of a list of 91 countries as the most corrupt country in the world (It was given 0.4 out of a total of 10 points), I could not hear a worse comment on this issue than the remarks made by Bangladesh's Finance Minister Saifur Rahman to the BBC in early October.

For a country like Afghanistan which has just come out of an absurd war that continued for more than two decades and whose population has experienced more daily pain and suffering at the hands of their national rulers than at the hand of foreign powers, foreign aid of various kinds is considered a crucial factor for restoring life to normal and re-establishing peace, security and stability.

The Baluch are a nation which lives in a vast land stretching over Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. There is also a Baluch minority living in the Gulf region. The Gulf Baluch are divided into two groups.

China's interest in the Kashmir issue stems from three main reasons. First, China occupies since the 1962 Sino-Indian border war about 38,000 sq km of Indian Kashmir. In addition, it acquired another 5,000 sq km from Pakistan under the 1963 border demarcation accord with the latter.

It seems now that the will to promote peace and co-existence has triumphed over the will to wage war and partition in Sri Lanka.

Before the peaceful transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to China there were increasing fears that the people of Hong Kong would lose their freedoms, basic rights and all the success and prosperity achieved under the British rule.

In a country such as Indonesia where Muslims account for 90 per cent of the total population of around 200 million people, it is not surprising to have several Islamic organisations that embrace different views and policies.