Politics - Asia latest news

A perfect storm of enmity has come down on beleaguered Turkish secularists, leading to speculation that an Islamic putsch is possible, after the fashion of the 1979 revolution in Iran. The United States views this Islamic drift favorably, seeing Turkey as a leader of a regional bloc with the short-term aim of calming Iraq and a longer-term objective of fostering a Sunni alliance against Iran. This is a big mistake. (Jul 21, '08)

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has launched a conference in Madrid meant to open an unprecedented round of inter-faith dialogue between Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Jewish thinkers. The king's initiative hopes to assuage festering religious prejudices, but it is doubtful a few hundred religious elites can generate understanding for communities caught in war zones and fraught societies. - Sreeram Chaulia (Jul 21, '08)

The expectations were high of progress being made at the weekend's talks between Iran and the six nations handling its nuclear file, especially as the US State Department had sent its third-ranking official. All that happened was "small talk" - which was exactly what some in the George W Bush administration had wanted. - Gareth Porter (Jul 21, '08)

The Indian government faces a no confidence vote on Tuesday that could see it prematurely thrown out of power, the catalyst for discontent being Delhi's planned nuclear deal with the United States. There is however much more at stake: a massive realignment of forces is taking place that could profoundly remake India's political landscape. - M K Bhadrakumar (Jul 21, '08)

The Democratic nominee-in-waiting for the US presidency, Senator Barack obama, received a lift from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as his war zone tour began. But obama will find plenty of landmines along his route - Muhammad Cohen (Jul 21, '08)

China's espionage program is well funded and its foot soldiers number in the thousands. More important, its targets are not well-defended government facilities and iconic structures, but poorly protected commercial technology secrets that feed America's economic and military advantage. (Jul 21, '08)

"Citizen soldiers" of past American wars have been replaced by the "warfighters" of "Generation Kill" in what is routinely called the "the world's best military". But is this such a good thing? Just ask a German military veteran in a warrior-state that went berserk in a febrile quest for full spectrum dominance. - William J Astore, retired US lieutenant colonel. (Jul 21, '08)