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This article looks at how India and China debate the relevance of democracy as a regime to their respective development strategies and foreign policies. With special emphasis on the Indian case, it argues that these countries are pursuing divergent models and that this competition has important implications for other Asian countries that are undergoing rapid transition and massive socio-economic transformation. The natural tension between domestic decision-making processes and principles, and exigent external priorities is a typical challenge faced by great powers. But unlike authoritarian China, the eventual success of India's democratic model is crucial to the future of the liberal order. Adapted from the source document.

The author notes that to speak of democracy in the countries of Central Asia would seem to be a futile effort. The republics that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union are known for their authoritarian, repressive, & centralized regimes. Following a review of the history & sociopolitical context of the Central Asian countries, the author describes being in Bishkek in Jan 2010, when Kyrgyzstan was between revolutions & popular revolts, & discusses the country's internal dynamics as well as foreign relations with the US, Russia, & other Western nations. While a ray of hope was apparent at that time -- with the establishment of a new legitimate government & a new social contract -- it was soon extinguished. Once again, the future of Kyrgyzstan, like that of the other Central Asian countries, appears unlikely to change anytime soon. S. Stanton

The present paper explores the role of China in Asia's evolution in the international system, describing the political and security dynamics that has characterized its diverse "centres" -- East Asia, Northeast Asia or Southeast Asia -- and that, at the turning of the century, created the conditions for the emergence of a "Great Asia", concomitantly with the acknowledgement of China. The paper also approaches the various conflicts that have marked the history of the region during the Cold War and, despite the fact that its end was unable to bring to Asia the "Kantian peace", a "Lockean intermission" took place in the area, as a result of North-American unipolar preponderance and a long cycle of economic growth. Adapted from the source document.

Nicholas Spykman once wrote that "the remarkable similarity of the geographic position of the United States in regard to Europe & Asia (was) not paralleled by a similarity in political relations." This pattern was confirmed in World War II & the Cold War & seems to persist in the post-Cold War. The United States consolidated its alliance with Western Europe in the Atlantic Alliance but there is no comparable multilateral framework in Asia although relations with Japan, India & China, increasingly at the center of American interests, need it in order to become more stable & predictable. Adapted from the source document.

As the winner of the longest electoral campaign in American history, Barack Obama has also won the right to lead the nation through a period of severe challenges to the US power & world prominence. One month after his inauguration as 44th POTUS, as the new Administration is refocusing US foreign policy, this article goes through the proverbial tour d'horizon of the serious threats to national & international security coming out of West & Southwest Asia. Adapted from the source document.

Russia-China relations have been marked by areas of cooperation built on shared approaches in fundamental foreign policy topics, as well as by some elements of continuity in projects of national consolidation. However, this has not been a relationship without constraints, especially regarding incompatible goals. This article analyses the relations between Russia and China in an internationally changed framework, where the Asia-Pacific region has been gaining growing relevance. Political, economic and security relations are object of analysis, with the aim of understanding the main issues in the agenda and the dynamics that these have generated regarding the bilateral relationship, which is increasingly understood as asymmetrical. Adapted from the source document.

The article focuses on the region with the lowest level of regional integration: South Asia. Firstly, it describes the role played by the central intergovernmental organization in South Asia: the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Secondly, it outlines the key obstacles for integration in the region. Thirdly, it describes how the main regional actors -- SAARC, Member states, academia & civil society, & the European Union assess regional integration in South Asia. Finally, the article suggests possible scenarios for the region. Adapted from the source document.