Gordon T. Stewart’s book is fascinating, for being English he has Stewart has had an advantage in easily accessing the old British agents’ diaries, letters and political dispatches. The book contains every feature of what the empire stood for: enlightenment, imperialism and interest. The book is interesting but repeats the same wistful narratives…
It can be inferred from the author’s profile on the dust jacket that he is bassador in Lebanon, he has earlier been the Saudi kingdom’s ambassador to Pakistan between 2001 and 2009. His earlier career was in the police prior to his moving to appointments in which he looked after the security of Saudi diplomatic assets…
The very title shows the self-confidence and optimism of the editors, and also, of most of the scholars who have contributed to the volume. Such self-confidence and optimism are sadly lacking among decision-makers. Of course, the decision-makers, including the US President Obama, have good reasons for lacking in optimism…
The search for a final theory of everything is an enduring, if not always endearing, part of human endeavour. If that search is successful it should yield explanations for all that we see around us, natural phenomena of course, but also human behaviour, the way societies function, national and international events and developments…
This is a slim volume, but attempts to grapple with the problems of nuclear nonproliferation in the most contentious areas of the world.The book opens with a remarkable Address by the External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherje, which needs some comment. Unusually for a minister, this is a frank essay that speaks of the economic shift of the center of gravity to Asia…
Most contemporary great and major powers, unless protected by alliances, possess nuclear weapons, although as North Korea and Pakistan prove, having a nuclear weapon does not make you a great power—they just make you a tough problem. Nuclear weapons are very costly and require a large industrial infrastructure for their fabrication…