World Affairs: Asia

Two sides of the Coin

As Barack Obama and Gordon Brown prepare to invest extra troops in the latest attempt to defeat the Taliban, the reliance on counter-insurgency is likely to prove counter-intuitive

Let the bird of paradise go free

The theft of West Papua's mineral wealth must end. The province's courageous resistance movement deserves nothing less

Chinese whispers

Xiaolu Guo on the voices of a changing country

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Leader: Killed in the name of crooked Karzai

The tawdry spectacle of Karzai's "re-election" should shame western leaders

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Leader: Why Britain must abort mission in Afghanistan

There are no good options left for Britain in Afghanistan. Brown should set a date for withdrawal

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The great gamble

As the Karzai government succumbs to pressure to rerun elections and ever more coalition troops die, it seems increasingly as if we are fighting a futile war in Afghanistan. Making a deal with the Taliban may be the only way to make a clean exit

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This restless land

Last year, after a decade of violence, Maoist rebels drove through the abolition of Nepal’s monarchy, but all too quickly they themselves fell from power. What chance now for peace and democracy?

Five alive

Shireen Vakil Miller, Save the Children

Death of a terrorist

Noordin Top, leader of al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago, has been shot dead in Indonesia. But there are lessons behind the headlines

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China's growth will continue

China's successful economic policies are specifically Chinese. But they are made up of universal elements

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