Even though there is a lot of expectation in Washington for India to assume a more active role as a regional balancer vis-à-vis China, New Delhi is far less eager to pursue this position against its northern neighbor.

‘New power centres are growing rapidly and power relationships are changing and becoming fluid’, Yudhoyono said, calling for what he called a ‘dynamic equilibrium’.

American leaders, too, refer to Ahmadinejad’s legitimate government as “the Iranian regime.” Given Washington’s habitual interest in regime change, this description cannot but sound ominous to Iranian ears.

The first minimum wage legislation was endorsed by the New Zealand government in 1894. Since then, minimum wage laws have drawn debate all over the world. Based on International Labor Organization (ILO) reports, 90 percent of countries implement minimum wage laws.

A couple days before the start of the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, I ventured to the Peace Palace, where the Summit would be taking place. To my surprise, my friends and I were greeted by a banner that had little to do with the ASEAN Summit. The eye-brow…

After four decades of removing itself as the pawns in a venue of superpower rivalry, Southeast Asia was suddenly finding itself as the backyard of potential 21st Century enmity. A gripping climate exacerbated by ‘intelligence assessments’ which clearly show that despite the diplomatic smiles, rivalry is in the air.

It’s too easy to fall into one side or the other: to support the West and its supposed altruistic values or to defend Islam as the religion under fire. Fall, and you may end up like those supporting or even acting like Breivik or Bin Laden.

Michael Barr’s “Who’s Afraid of China?: The Challenge of Chinese Soft Power” argues that no matter how China tries to “soften” its rise to power, most countries – particularly those in the West – are simply incapable of viewing China other than as a threat to today’s world order.

The wisest choice for humanity, as the most significant driver of change, is to focus on new pathways. Pathways premised on a multi-generation vision of growth; eradicating poverty; aiming for equitable, prosperous, and inclusive societies.

Rio+20 can contribute to corrective action. The financial and economic crisis was a painful reminder that relying on market forces alone to fuel development is a dangerous and volatile path.

Once Ellen Goodman, an American journalist, rightly pointed out about what journalism was in these words. “In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right”.