Geography Archives: Asia

In the summer of 2018, the Indian State of Kerala was hit by severe rains and flood–the heaviest in nearly a century. The deluge affected 5.4 million people in this southern Indian state with a population of 35 million.

In the aftermath of Nepal’s near revolution, diverse Maoist leaders are attempting to regroup and move forward again.

We must demand immediate, scientifically rational, and enforceable emissions-reduction targets for each country that take into account historical CO2 emissions, and, relatedly, provision of the necessary technological and financial support to less-developed (and less culpable) countries.

On March 16th and 17th last year the Philippine armed forces dropped bombs containing illegal and toxic white phosphorus on towns in Abra province. The pasturelands and communal forests of farmers and indigenous peoples were burnt, and daily activities ground to a halt as widespread fear set in among the population.

China’s growth rate remains impressive, even if on the decline. The country’s continuing economic gains owe much to the Chinese state’s (1) still considerable ability to direct the activity of critical economic enterprises and sectors such as finance, (2) commitment to policies of economic expansion, and (3) flexibility in economic strategy.

THE Indian economy is in a tailspin. This cannot be attributed only to innocence in economic matters of the command-centre of the NDA government. While that is indubitably a contributing factor, the current travails of the economy point to something deeper, namely the dead-end to which neo-liberalism has brought the economy.

Maduro’s trip concluded with 28 bilateral agreements, including plans to import vital medical supplies and begin work on Venezuela’s fourth satellite.

It’s imperative that President Ortega and Nicaragua be defended from covert imperialist aggression by the United States under its brand of fake ‘democracy,’ writes Lauren Smith.

The great social thinker, Samir Amin, has died. The social sciences have lost three unique figures in this year. First, the Brazilian Theotonio dos Santos, who inspired many to study the world system from a radical perspective. He was followed by the Peruvian Aníbal Quijano, who posed the concept of “cultural revolution” to give the peoples of Latin America their own identity.

Given the humble goal of Caracas to free itself from the domineering whims of a U.S. imperialism keen on reviving the notorious Monroe Doctrine, it is obvious why the U.S. would see sinister motives in the fraternal reception Beijing has offered to the Venezuelan head of state.

Sagar Abraham-Gonsalves writes about his clawing helplessness as his father, Vernon Gonsalves, was arrested on Tuesday in the Bhima-Koregaon case.

This lack of distinction explains the decline in women’s workforce participation rates. The decline reflects a shift from paid to unpaid work.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and the Hindutvavadi “nationalist” movement’s demonic drive for cultural orthodoxy seems to know no bounds. What is alarming is the former’s support for and complicity in the acts of the latter, as also the Indian state’s control of its “necessary” enemies through the use of state terror, with the category “urban Naxals” singled out in the latest of such drives (in June and August 2018) that otherwise routinely target Muslims, militant oppressed nationalities, and “Maoists.”

In response to accusations of encouraging “debt trap” diplomacy in Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the announced aid package is not “a scheme to form an exclusive club or bloc against others. Rather it is about greater openness, sharing and mutual benefit.”

Massive Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally on September 5 to hit out at neoliberal economic policies, communal agenda, authoritarian attacks by the BJP government.

Since the extreme right-wing government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, there has been an increasing crackdown on political and student activists, who are often branded as Maoists and anti-nationals.

THE communist-ruled Indian state of Kerala, hit by the most severe rains and floods in nearly a century, has had to overcome not just nature’s fury but also the active hostility of the central government in Delhi led by the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

An analysis by IMD researchers has indicated increased disaster potential for instant flooding over central India, where the intensity and frequency of heavy and very heavy rainfall have been increasing.

The deepening of economic globalization appears to have ground to a halt and the process may even unravel a little. The sudden stop has surprised economists, whose belief in globalization has strong parallels with Fukuyama’s (1989) flawed end of history hypothesis.

There’s a category of story we call “Them Not Us”—U.S. media reporting on problems abroad, and seemingly not noticing that they have the same problems at home.