The Russia-India Romance

By James Kimer | Published: January 5, 2011

We’ve given the recent Bollywood summit between Dmitry Medvedev and Mahoman Singh a bit of coverage, but here MK Bhadrakumar gets more in depth.  Despite his baroque, flowery writing style, the author provides a glimpse into the future of BRIC to BRIC relations, or as Putin is fond of describing it, multi-vector diplomacy. Shorn of […]

» Read More

Mr. Medvedev’s Trip to Bollywood

By James Kimer | Published: December 22, 2010

Dmitry Medvedev has had an action-packed trip to Mumbai.  Accompanied by a delegation of some 100 state businessmen, the Russian president arrived in Delhi to announce his high regard for their “privileged” partnership, and urged that the two countries work hard to keep it that way. Keeping with standard practices, the trip featured an orgy […]

» Read More

Brazil-China Trade Yet to Take Off

By James Kimer | Published: November 17, 2010

I saw this interesting article in the Financial Times earlier this week, and did not want to let it go by unmentioned.  The journalist reports from some excerpts of a new Standard & Poor’s report on trade relations and economic growth between Brazil and China, the bookends of the beloved BRIC grouping. The authors also […]

» Read More

Thailand Coughs Up its Most Valuable Prisoner

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: November 16, 2010

As Viktor Bout heads from the confines of his Bangkok cell towards the United States in a specially chartered jet, one can only wonder about what kind of improbable backroom deals were put in place to secure his extradition. On an intelligence level, Bout’s extradition is a huge catch for U.S. authorities. Sources familiar with […]

» Read More

Great Game Redux

By James Kimer | Published: November 5, 2010

Der Spiegel breaks a big story:  Central Asia is still important.  Just because Washington has given up on the region doesn’t mean that Russia, China, and Europe are still engaged. Turkmenistan, the least populous of the five nations between the Caspian Sea and the Pamir Mountains that emerged from the former USSR, is a perfect […]

» Read More

Thailand, the ICC, and Crimes Against Humanity

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: October 26, 2010

This week my law firm participated in the filing of a preliminary report on behalf of the Thai Red Shirt movement and others to notify the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court with regard to the situation of recent political violence, arguing that an investigation into the alleged commission of crimes against humanity by the […]

» Read More

India and Brazil Jumping Ship from the G20

By James Kimer | Published: October 20, 2010

Looks like the G20 is rapidly losing credibility, as core members Brazil and India have both spurned meetings this week ahead of the November summit in South Korea.  There are some interesting factors pushing emerging BRIC nations away from the bloc. From the Financial Times: More and more, the story of the G20 is beginning […]

» Read More

Economic Warfare in a Weakening International System

By Robert Amsterdam | Published:

China’s recent aggressive power plays on the world stage ahead of the next G20 meeting have been dominating the news.  The dispute with Japan over an arrested fisherman and some uninhabited rocks unveiled a bold new level of rhetoric, while Chinese authorities have lobbed accusations against the United States over the “currency war,” which according […]

» Read More

Chee Soon Juan Writes to Lee Kuan Yew

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: October 17, 2010

As many readers of this blog are aware, I act as counsel to Dr. Chee Soon Juan, the persecuted leader of the Singaporean opposition party.  Dr. Chee recently wrote an open letter to strongman Lee Kuan Yew, whose family has had control of the tiny city state for some five decades.  This letter, which describes […]

» Read More

Moscow Recalculates Relations with Beijing

By James Kimer | Published: October 11, 2010

MK Bhadrakumar has a good commentary published in The Hindu on the rapidly changing relationship between Russia and China: An influential Moscow commentator wrote: “For America, China is an obvious strategic rival … But growing economic dependence is causing these two rivals to tread cautiously and in a responsible manner. This is the kind of […]

» Read More