Tourists choose 'The Mummy' over Mao
China has launched a "Red Tourism" campaign, designed to glorify the Communist Party, serving both ideology and the economy. But the campaign is a hard sell, as many young people consider it a musty old turn-off and prefer chills at "The Mummy" show in Shanghai. - Fraser Newham

Ask Spengler Women as priests? Women never forgive anything! Words of wisdom for the new CEO of the world's largest religious denomination, and advice to the head of the only hyperpower on how to avoid the disappointment of democracy-gone-wrong.

Obituary for an ATol contributor
Andre Gunder Frank (1929-2005)
Frequently ahead of the curve - too far ahead to serve him professionally - Andre Gunder Frank battled throughout his life against what he perceived as academic wrong-headedness, especially in the field of economics, often drawing the wrath of the powerful. One of his last efforts was the popular Asia Times Online series The Naked Hegemon. - Jeff Sommers



CHINA

 The Chinese people have learned how to organize en masse, using SMS, email and the web. Beijing, beware. - Aaron Kyle Dennis

SOUTH ASIA

 Japan's prime minister visits India on the heels of Chinese leaders: Delhi is keeping its options open in a changing geopolitical world. - Aruni Mukherjee

 India has renewed military assistance to Nepal. With China looming large in the region, something had to give.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

 China's on the move, wooing the region, as the latest accord with Indonesia confirms.



Syria's Ba'athists loosen the reins
The Ba'ath Party in Syria is to relax its decades-long iron grip on political control by allowing other parties to contest elections. The move is a carefully calculated gamble on the part of the government, and will also challenge United States efforts to dictate the pace of democracy in the country. - Sami Moubayed (Apr 25, '05)

Dangerous games the Saudis play
In the overall expression of hoopla and criticism related to the Saudi elections, in which hardliners triumphed, no one should forget that real change in the birthplace of Islam will come only when there is a serious dialogue about the necessity for reforming Wahhabi perspectives. - Ehsan Ahrari (Apr 25, '05)

KMT steals the show with China visit
When the head of Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang, Lien Chan, arrives on the mainland Tuesday for a trip that will include a meeting with President Hu Jintao, he leaves behind an embarrassed and out-maneuvered government. Lien's hardest task, though, will be to turn this advantage to his long-term benefit. - Laurence Eyton (Apr 25, '05)

THE NEW AMERICAN MILITARISM
New boys in town
The baton of the neo-conservative movement passed from the old generation to the new, with the founding of a new flagship mouthpiece, the Weekly Standard, in 1995. The gloves were off, and the pressure to reshape US foreign policy into one unashamedly militaristic and aggressive was on - aimed in part at the neo-cons' longtime nemesis, Saddam Hussein. This is the final of two excerpts from Andrew J Bacevich's new book. (Apr 25, '05)

Japan's unfinished business in China
A flurry of attempts to quell surging Sino-Japanese tensions has one constant: ever-increasing economic ties between the two nations. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's apology Friday before assembled heads of state, and Beijing's efforts to cool things down, signal that politicians in both countries are paying more heed to the economic fallout from their political rows. George Zhibin Gu examines what's at stake economically. (Apr 22, '05)

THE ROVING EYE
It's terror when we say so
Last year in its annual report, the US National Counterterrorism Center listed 175 "significant" terrorist attacks in 2003. This year, the report found a sharp increase to 624 such attacks for 2004. However, this figure will not be included when the report is officially released at the end of the month. Why? Ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. - Pepe Escobar (Apr 22, '05)

Savants of the sea
engulfed by politics
The Moken sea gypsies of Thailand, a tiny, ethnically separate community, were feted for their heroism during last December's tsunami. Now they face a stark political reality that threatens their mystical existence. - Tom Vater (Apr 22, '05)


The coming crisis
Several factors tend to precipitate emerging market crises: a slowdown in the global economy, falling global liquidity, rising interest rates in the US, and a crisis in a specific country. Conditions are now falling into place for just such a market dislocation, and a renewed rally by the beleaguered dollar. - Rohit Chawdhry (Apr 21, '05)

Why China is growing so fast
New statistics show China grew by 9.5% in the first quarter of this year. Contrary to the general belief that huge capital investment and cheap labor propel this phenomenal growth, it's actually a reforms-induced productivity boom. Which is all the better, because productivity-led growth is more likely to be sustained. - Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri (Apr 20, '05)