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The End Of Tony Blair Show
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/7/2007
With little less than a few weeks to go before leaving office, Prime Minister Tony Blair of England is wondering how he would like best to be remembered. Many Britons admire him as a statesman and a fluent political speaker, but Mr. Blair, still vigorous at the end of the term, probably seeks more t...

Liberia's future looks hazy
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/15/2005
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has claimed victory in Liberia's first presidential elections since the end of 14 years of civil war two years ago and if confirmed, she will be Africa's first elected female president.

Mrs Johnson - Sirleaf told the BBC’s World Today programme that she was humbled by th...

Tony Blair Faces Sudden Political Death
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/15/2005
In a first major parliamentary defeat since becoming Prime Minister in 1997, The British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced a massive defeat in what turned out to be the biggest turn around for a British government on a whipped vote after James Callaghan’s administration in the late 1970’s.

His ...

Internally Displaced Population Syndrome in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 9/11/2005
These days it seems as though there are two governments running Nepal: the city-based, royal regime, which has yet to win both domestic and international confidence, and the village-based, barbaric Maoists regime, which seems determined to cleanse the royal regime and those they do not like. And san...

Maoist’s Latest Unilateral Truce Heralds A New Era In Nepali Politics
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 9/13/2005
King Gyanendra enjoyed a brief political honeymoon after his rise to absolute power in February. People reacted favorably to his new role. Common Nepalese psyche was soured completely by the political impasse and the maoists violence, so they gave the king, the benefit of doubt to invigorate the nat...

Trafficking in Women, Nepal's Dirtiest Secret
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 9/25/2005
The constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal bans the sale or trafficking of women under Article 20 (1): "Traffic in human beings, slavery, serfdom or forced labour in any form is prohibited. Any contravention of this provision shall be punishable by law."

However, limited government intervention...

Africa Still Plagued by Suffering
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 10/11/2005
The term "poverty" is ambiguous and it conveys different meanings under different conditions on different occasions. However, it is clear that the rapid growth of poverty in parts of Africa is a gigantic hurdle in the way of development.

Parts of Africa, such as Niger and Sudan, are laced wit...

Nepal: South Asia's Worst Managed Country
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 10/15/2005
Nepal is probably the worst managed country in the whole of South Asia in terms of having to deal with the ever-changing political environment. It’s very much a politics-driven nation. But when you have a social disturbance of the magnitude that has occurred in Nepal, it is virtually impossible to m...

The Pathetic Reality of Street Children in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 10/17/2005
Over the past few decades, the standard of living of many urban Nepalese has risen beyond measure, even in the midst of political turmoil. But ironically, at the same time many poor children are struggling for survival out in the streets, sleeping on makeshift cardboard mattresses in main cities lik...

America's Catastrophic Nuclear Administration
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 10/17/2005
We are living at a critical juncture of the human history-perhaps not as dramatic as that of the Cold War catastrophe, but a moment no less crucial laced by the threats of the nuclear turmoil and the weapons of the mass destruction. The only question that has been recurring again and again is, "How ...

The Dark Fate of Nepali Children
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 10/24/2005
Nepal is located at the tassel of South Asian politics and receives very little international attention. Yet the mounting conflict deserves the world's attention, not only because of its intrinsic interest, but also because of the wider, very serious implications it has for the stability of the regi...

Iranian Leader's Israel Comments Stun World
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/5/2005
In the short run, Iran's hardliners are hoping for a national coalition by playing the "Israel card" since Iran's bureaucracy has a record of bullying Western countries into cold-shouldering Israel, but such attitudes visibly show how hard it will be for Iran to build cross-border alliances in the l...

Does US Seek To Establish Dictatorship in Nepal?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/13/2005
The momentum that was rapidly building toward a republican set up after the initial media hoopla, is most likely to decease prematurely as the United States has officially yet again renewed its warning against possible “alliance” between Nepal’s major political parties and the Communist Party of Nep...

Does Nepal Need Outside Interference
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/7/2005
Political forecasting, always a dodgy business, has grown even more difficult in Nepal during the past few weeks. For a start, soothsayers have had to cope over the unpredictable moves of the royal government, the serpentine ploys of the political parties, new-fangled attitudes of the Maoists, and t...

China: What Is Going On in Dongzhou?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/16/2005
China's remarkable economic achievements have instilled a pride the Chinese haven't felt in more than a century. But it is too early to say if the economic efforts will succeed in making the country more united, as exemplified by the latest use of force by the Chinese government since the Tiananmen ...

Trade, Not Aid for Africa
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/19/2005
During the Cold War much of Africa became a battleground for the Superpowers, and there has been a tendency to see the continent as little more than a consumer of endless charity. But the new Africa demands a new attitude from the rich world, as it begins to see itself not as aid-addicted but as a s...

The American Economy is Lagging Behind
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/31/2005
In today's world, a superpower is no longer determined by its military force only, but by its economic performances too. Therefore, the main issue for America is now the "dollar" and understanding where it is heading. The good news for America is that in recent times the dollar has strengthened sign...

One in 20 U.S. adults not literate in English
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/22/2006
Despite remarkable efforts by the Government of America to uplift the status of its adult’s English literary rate, a federal study shows that about one in 20 adults in the U.S. are not literate in English, which means 11 million people lack the basic skills to handle many simple day to day tasks.

Maoist insurgency hits Nepalese ailing economy gravely
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/22/2006
Stagflation, deflation and recession have been much on the minds and mouths of economists of late, but many fear that the Nepalese economy may be on the brink of collapse, as the economic costs of people having died, people having displaced from their homes, and people who have been handicapped duri...

Royal regime has long been dying on its feet
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/26/2006
“Municipal election” is a phrase the Nepalese government uses often these days, but in many parts of the country the two words sit uneasily together. Nowhere is this more so than in Kathmandu, arguably the seismic zone of the Nepalese politics. Democrats in Kathmandu have spent months failing to get...

A clash of egos is gulping Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/30/2006
A clash of egos is threatening Nepal’s fragile autonomy and its equally fragile economy. King, Political parties and the Maoists are in angry dispute over the conduct of the Municipal election.

The political parties want the government to terminate the poll, which the government wants to hold at a...

Dialogue or Devastation: Two Paths at Stake in France
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 4/3/2006
Unlike the multicultural approach of the United States and Britain, the aim of France, according to some analysts, has been to elide, or gloss over, the particular cultural and religious backgrounds of immigrants to make them indistinguishable from the natives, as the French have long prided themsel...

The paradox of multi-ethnicity
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/24/2006
When the definitions of nationhood, are suddenly put up for grabs, the goal of multi – ethnicity is even harder to attain according to most analysts. According to them, under despotism or colonialism, it did not matter much, whether frontiers reflected the true ethnic reality. But now, it’s a differ...

The Maoist Program and Nepal's Challenge
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/25/2006
The government led by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and the Maoist rebels is trying to bridge the troubled waters of Nepalese politics after the overthrow of the constitutional monarchy resulting from their joint struggle. This is indeed a step towards peace and lasting stability, as the rights of ...

Human Rights Hypocrisy?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/26/2006
"We set this nation up to make men free, and we did not confine our conception and purpose to America," proclaimed President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. As the new century rose, the Wilsonian idea that it is America's mission to promote freedom abroad retains a powerful grip in his country. Yet, for the...

North Korea at Dire Food Impasse
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/26/2006
North Korea has the world worried about its nuclear weapons potential. But that's not what most worries South Koreans, who are concerned about its menacing food crisis and its possible economic collapse. After decades of a command economy, North Korea is almost stripped bare and has become one of th...

Maoists Face a Tough Electoral Contest in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/3/2006
Past several years have been of great political instability in Nepal as en masse defections became the order of the day. Once again the nation is standing on the live wire of political uncertainties as the Maoists plan to rake up the political issue to counter all parties in a desperate move to gain...

Asian nexus: Will it reduce the U.S. presence in Asia?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/10/2006
To many, the ongoing ferocious urban warfare, and the recent series of rage at United States military forces in Iraq, is all about the American military presence in the gulf, but the accusation is only a spark that has ignited the long simmering grievances.

Though, even if they say that Ame...

Can America solve the Middle East crisis?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/28/2006
In 1920, H.G.Wells published his “Outline of History”. It was meant to awaken people to the realization that only a rationally ordered world – state would save humanity from destroying itself. But how secure are such conclusions today in the Middle East shrouded by the brutalities of irrational war?...

Bhutan: Paradise clouded by the ethnic cleansing
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/29/2006
Hidden in the eastern Himalayas between India and China (in the form of the Tibetan Autonomous Region), as big as Switzerland, but frivolously inhabited, Bhutan exudes an immaculate beauty all over the world. Its mountains are gorgeous, the forests are dense, the people are delightful, the air is sa...

Israel rejects UN aid truce call as fighting continues in Lebanon
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/30/2006
Israel pulled thousands of its ground troops out of the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail on Saturday. But despite the hiccups all over the world, Israeli missiles are deafeningly proceeding in Lebanon, and Israeli military sources have indicated that the fighting could intensify.

Alarmed ...

How are the children going to eat in India after the ban?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/22/2006
The pathetic sight of poor children carrying sacks, polishing shoes, selling newspapers or washing dishes in the roadside inn is one of the most common sights in India, home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. According to government figures, nearly 13 million children work in Ind...

Will the world starve in the 21st century?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/23/2006
In the 20th century, many people worried there would be a world food crisis in the early 21st century as the unstoppable surge in population overwhelmed mankind's ability to produce food, which was nearing a natural ceiling. And now, the range of longer run concerns is even greater than it was. Worr...

Is Israel's Military Might a Myth?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/30/2006
Are the dark clouds of bloody conflict that were gathered over Lebanon really parting? It may seem an unduly bleak question. Weeks after the U.N.-brokered ceasefire took effect, normality has returned to the country more rapidly than anyone expected. Lebanon's long war is finally over. Probably. But...

Iraq's Future Still Uncertain
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/31/2006
One of America's most cherished ideas about itself is that, with enough military presence and the vice-like power of sanctions, it can achieve anything it wants in every nation of the world. Stories of Iran, Libya, Cuba and Iraq spell out this belief. Yet now America, it seems, is fighting a losing ...

The Misdirected Media Coverage of Virginia Massacre
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/8/2007
It has been a shaky few weeks for South Korea. Television news bulletins and newspapers were dominated by pictures of injured, dead or just fearful Virginia Tech students and teachers, after the shock massacre committed by a 23-year-old South Korean youth.

Cho Seung-hui had been residing in A...

Nepal Peace Talks at the Crossroads
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/7/2006
Lately Nepal has seen a worrying wave of political bickering. For the moment, politicians are working flat-out to meet demand, which has already been forecasted to rise more in the next few weeks. For ordinary Nepalese, of course, all this is good news: it drives political uncertainties away.

Can Bush Dig Himself Out of a Hole?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/7/2006
George W. Bush was swept into power for a second term promising that things could "only get better" in the fight against the terrorism. But looking back now, who can deny that they have not gotten better. Two years on, America is a different place and Americans are beginning to doubt both the moral ...

Nepal: Maoist's love affair with the gun continues
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/21/2006
Maoists emerged the victor from a decade old bloody fight for power after the loss of more than 13,000 lives and untold human suffering. They have gained larger political ground after the major breakthrough of 8 November peace accord under the United Nations supervision.

This, it is hoped,...

Nepal: Putting back the pieces together
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/11/2006
The physical scars are noticeable. In fact, they are everywhere in each nook and corners of Nepal: Bullet pocked, shell shattered roof tops, deserted fields, ramshackle government offices, and the fire darkened houses in the villages of Nepal. Even the electricity poles, water pipes, telephone tow...

What’s so noble about the Nobel peace prize?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/13/2006
Nobel Peace Prize was founded in 1901.Thereafter, 94 exemplary figures and 19 humanitarian organizations have received the dazzling prize. But ironically, a person whose very life symbolizes peace never got the prized accolade. Isn’t this surprising? But yet, Mahatma Gandhi continues to shine as the...

Capitalism Triumphs in Asia
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/20/2006
Karl Marx, the 19th century German political philosopher, predicted that the advanced capitalist societies would together progress toward communism. But the great man, had he been alive today, would have to his utmost dismay, seen the trend going just the opposite way instead.

Nonetheless, h...

Time has come for the World Bank to mould a new development model
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/26/2006
A World Bank study of evaluation in 2000 began with the confession "Despite the billions of dollars spend on development assistance each year, there is still very little known about the actual impact of projects on the poor." The reality is harsh and of course, there has to be incentives to do somet...

America: Changing the game in Iraq
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/24/2007
Saddam Hussein is gone now, and gone in a big way. Whatever else Mr. Hussein achieved during his tenure as an Iraqi dictator, his death has suddenly divided the world into two fractions - one faction supporting his hanging and the other faction condemning .

Reaction to the hanging of Saddam H...

American monetary policy and its less curvy yield curve
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/29/2007
The United States of America is the world’s largest and most successful economy with a Gross Domestic Product(GDP) for 2006 of $13.3 trillion dollars but according to some analysts, this giant economy is about to collapse into a recession. Is the American economy about to collapse into a recession o...

Nepal: On The Verge Of Ethnic Division
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/31/2007
“This is a country tarnished by Sati’s curse. Nothing can ever go right in this country”, the saying has become a habit for the Nepalese people. They are fed up with never ending turmoil that has engulfed the nation in recent years.

Nepal, it seems, is out of the frying pan into the fire. For...

Give North Korea one final chance
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/5/2007
To many people in the West, North Korea is all one phenomenon: illiberal, alien, dangerous and baffling. Some of this week’s headlines – North Korea eyes 2nd nuclear test, Starvation on the roll in North Korea, What North Korea really wants? – will confirm such people in their views. Yet a wider rea...

American Economy: on the rise, no need to panic
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/6/2007
An Economist, it has been said, is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday did not happen today. This is true of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecasting too.

Over the past several months economists have repeatedly forecasted that the American economy would fal...

America is pointing the guns to the Iranian regime but is Europe ready?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/7/2007
If a single word can summarize America’s view of Iran, it is “anarchic.” And the last thing on the minds of American congressional leaders, however, is the damage Iran could do to the world with its nuclear warheads if it not barred from making it now.

For Iran’s distressingly contented nucl...

The Rise of the Maoists in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/12/2007
When the muddy seeds of the Maoist movement were dispersed in Nepal , in February 1996, no one expected the Maoists to rule the rooster of Nepalese politics in less than a decade. Informal attitude shown towards the Maoists by the Nepalese administration then was propelled furthermore by the widespr...

Imagine a world without the United States of America
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/13/2007
Critics of American foreign policy and most importantly of its troop’s presence in Iraq are found in ever nook and corner of this world. They worry that an influx of American troops threatens the soul of Iraq ’s sovereignty. They may be right but there are those too, who favor the presence of Americ...

Nepal: How long will the aftershock last?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/19/2007
As I watched in horror the burning Terai, and the path of communal strife and ethnic polarity, Nepal is taking after a decade of Maoist’s conflict, I wonder if the sectarian violence can be resolved by the fundamental restructuring of constitution only, before it grows into a catastrophe.

Th...

Musharraf: An American Dilemma
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/25/2007
Someone once asked me, what are the similarities, between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the Dog’s tail. I said, I don’t know. He smiled and said, they are pretty similar, both are very stubborn. He went on saying; I’ve never seen anything as stubborn as the dog’s tail nor have I seen any ...

Do Nepalese Deserve The Leaders They Get?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/27/2007
A country’s foundations are laid down by its leaders. In order to build on these foundations, a country has to first identify such leaders and implicitly work with them and in a more personal term, respect those who have made such contributions to the nations in the past. But unfortunately, Nepal la...

Rising Hunger: The muddle in America
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/30/2007
When talk turns to America, the world is almost as full of self-described "realists" who believe that there is not an iota of problem in America, and the nation is an emblem of paradise. It is indeed rich, powerful and even the poor masses enjoy numerous benefits because of vast economic opportuniti...

Development: The most important challenge facing the modern human race
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 4/26/2007
Development has seen a lot of changes in the last three decades. Vast developments are occurring in the First world while Third world nations are shrinking. This has become a strain on the development. Hence, considering this, the present development statistics of the world needs to be seen in a pro...

Rising Maoists Insurgency in India
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/13/2007
India is divided in many ways: by caste, religion, language, and region. But recently it has become to look as though the most visible divide in the days ahead will be marked by the Maoists movement, which according to media reports, has spread to nearly 40% of the country's geographical area and is...

Nepal: Constituent Assembly Election Hangs On The Razor’s Edge
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/25/2007
Everyone is Nepal is waiting for, and expecting, a Constituent Assembly election. The question is, when it comes, will it be genuine? Attitudes within the political parties after the latest series of Maoists atrocities have raised worries about the fate of the scheduled election.

Most people...

Democracy: The Big Topic Of Discussion In Pakistan
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/12/2007
At home and abroad, things have never looked murkier for Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf. The question is will it fade or will it smolder on and on? It is hard, looking back over the past few weeks or so, to imagine a worse few weeks for the Pakistani president. Since September 11th, Pervez M...

Tea Estates Closure Lead To Mass Starvation And Death In India
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/13/2007
India has seen a lot of changes in the last two decades. During the past twenty years India has achieved progress at an impressive pace. It has achieved gain in health, transport, and education. But despite the vast opportunities created by the technological revolution, rural unemployment, as it was...

Nepal: Young Communist League or Young Criminal League
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/14/2007
The trouble with talking about Maoists so called “Young Communist League” is that so many important questions still have no answers. Nepalese who want peace are trapped and Nepal is unlikely to become peaceful as long as the Young Communist League (YCL) issue remains unsettled. Analyst says there ca...

Bush, Osama and Iraq
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/15/2007
In 1991, when the American- led coalition force drove Iraq ’s ramshackle army out of Kuwait, it could have easily brought Saddam Hussein on his knees by invading Iraq . But American troops chased Iraqi forces from Kuwait back into Iraq and left Saddam Hussein untouched. Why America left the dictator...

Where Should Bush Drop His Bombs Next?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/18/2007
After Iraq, what next? The plainest answer to that question is that much depends on how the war on Iraq and Afghanistan proceeds. But after years of bombing, the campaign it seems is merely in its early stages because of America's inability to win any war dating back to its confrontation with Vietna...

Has America’s fight against terrorism gathered dust?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/26/2007
Peace is better than war and we all agree this doctrine, but if the war has been waged against you than what will you do. The only option left before you, when the war has been declared on you is to fight for it. You cannot run away from war, when your nation's sovereignty is in stake, can you? You ...

Nepal's monarchy in dire crisis: Parliament can now end monarchy
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/27/2007
The day began as just another day but when it ended, June 13th, 2007, got itself a coveted place in the annals of the Nepalese history. June 13th, 2007, turned out to be a historic day for Nepal . Nepal welcomed an icon of peace and then passed a bill to end the 240 years old institution of monarchy...

Nepal Baffled by Maoist Leader Eying Presidency
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 6/30/2007
Any reasonable person might have thought, especially in these troubled times, that running a country as proverbially ungovernable as Nepal would have been quite enough for one person after King Gyanendra's earlier fiasco. Not so thought comrade Prachanda.

The Maoist chairman in his interview...

Booming Russia and 'Regained' Prosperity For Russia
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/4/2007
The result was not unexpected, but it was still spectacular. Russian economy once reassuringly unpredictable is becoming more and more stable. Inflation is low, the current account is in surplus, the financial system looks rigid, and the public finances are sound and solid. Russian economy is rising...

Are the Maoist's trying to prolong their fading legacy in Nepal?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/27/2007
The debate about Constituent Assembly election in Nepal is shifting from the abstract question of will it happen in the scheduled date to the more practical question of will it ever happen. One of the best reasons for Nepalese to be pessimistic about the Constituent Assembly election is that the par...

World Hunger Is Political Rather Than Economic
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/5/2007
An American biologist named Paul Ehrlich had predicted in 1969: “The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death.” That never happened, but what he wrote and predicted resembled Thomas Malthus’s prediction.

An early 19th century English ...

Home Grown Terrorists are testing the boundaries of the United Kingdom
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/10/2007
It all sounds too good to be true. And it probably is. After staining America ’s reputation and maiming its core, the terrorists have shifted gears, and they are now testing the boundaries of the United Kingdom. They began with a bang, killing 52 and injuring 700 others in the London ’s public trans...

Half A Cheer... If North Korea Doesn’t Cheat
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/23/2007
The ruling leaders in North Korea certainly know how to stir up a crisis and fool the world. It has been fooling the world and it has had plenty of practice. But out of the blue, North Korea on 14th July said that they had shut down their main plutonium producing pant, at Yongbyon. Is it a sham? Onl...

Russia-UK’s Political Consensus Is In Recession
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/31/2007
Majority of the diplomats now agree on something. Practically all of them now say that the Russia-UK’s political consensus is in recession. Where they do not agree is over how deep and how long the political recession will be, and how robust the recovery, if it is to happen at all. Russia and the Un...

U.S. Dollar Keeps Falling
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/3/2007
An economist, it has been said, is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday did not happen today. This is especially true of currency forecasting too. Over the past couple of years economists have repeatedly forecast that the dollar would strengthen against the other ma...

America’s Lopsided Foreign Policy
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/6/2007
A foreign policy crisis has loomed in America. And what should the president intrude? What he should do to mend all his mistakes and in next several months build a new foreign policy model, one that could help him earn a distinguished place in the history books.

No one knows the solution and...

Prospect of political violence is growing in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/7/2007
Achieving a permanent peace after so much conflict was always bound to be a messy affair, a confusing mix of pragmatism and principle, of recriminations, political maneuvering and hope. But strong ties between the Seven Political Parties and the Maoists, united in their determination to make a deal ...

Is Musharraf’s Boat Sinking?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/10/2007
“The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.” Pakistan ’s military caravan has seemed recently to be in danger of being pushed off track: it still, as the Arab saying decrees, moves on. Since last month’s Mosque invade, massive Taliban attacks, and more importantly after the restoration of the Chief Ju...

Will inflation trigger the regime change in Zimbabwe?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/12/2007
In 1968, Germany ’s economics minister, Karl Schiller, announced that “inflation is dead, as dead as a rusty nail”. In America , Lester Thurow, a professor of economics, declared in his book that inflation is “an extinct volcano”, dangerous because some foolish central bankers refuses to see that it...

Sierra Leone: Elections Bring A Gleam Of Hope
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/13/2007
Sierra Leone’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections on August 11th may do little more than legitimize the end of the country’s bloody civil war that ended in 2002. Yet the election stands out in Sierra Leone , partly because of its rarity. For the first time the election will be held without the...

Obstacles before Nancy Powell, the new US ambassador to Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/15/2007
New US ambassador to Nepal, Nancy J Powell, arrived in Kathmandu Monday afternoon by a Thai Airways plane, and immediately one of my colleague joked in a tea shop, near the pipal bot, in old Baneswore (where we often meet, discuss the latest political gossips, and sip tea together) that American Pol...

Vaccine or Viagra: The Debate Continues
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/17/2007
Budgets are finite but the health care demands are almost infinite in the developing nations. From this truism springs one of the characteristics of the developing world- that the developing nations are crawling way behind in life saving medical cares too.

Even in the modern 21st century, peo...

Hillary Clinton: Is Gender on Trial?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/18/2007
For years, the most striking features of America under Mr. Bush was its fight against the terrorism and the close association between President Bush and his chief political strategist Karl Rove in shaping the destiny of America. Karl Rove is history now, and as people are already counting the days o...

Nepal: One step Forward But Two Back
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/3/2007
"As a man sows, so shall he reap," is a biblical lesson that really means something in the politics too, where sustainability critically depends upon the conversion of promises into real and concrete people friendly actions. One party in Nepal, however, knows far better than most what it is to reap ...

India’s Dilemma: Farmer’s rising suicide rate
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/9/2007
In the eyes of the world, India is poised to be the world’s next great economy. While that principle is widely applauded, the details tend to be problematic. The changes in the Indian economy have been ‘all pain, no gain’ for most of its small farmers.

Despite India ’s economic success, the ...

America’s Socio- Economic Conundrum
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/14/2007
At the dawn of the 21st century, the United States is still an economic powerhouse and the one and only superpower of this world. But its economy is facing competition from the rising giants such as China and India and as well as from its internal socio-economic differences. Its lower and middle cl...

Too Much America Bashing: Bad For World’s Security
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/8/2008
The fight against terrorism is not over. It is not even, in reality, nearly over as Osama bin Laden and other senior al- Qaeda leaders are yet to be captured or killed by America and her allies united for the fight against international terrorism upon the aftermath of September 11th. Nevertheless, a...

British Economy Not Looking Great
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/8/2008
Some economists have questioned whether British economy is heading the American way as the British economy has historically tended to move in line with America's.In America, these days, energy inflation, interest rate cut, banking crunch, and speculations of recession are in fashion. Britain’s econo...

World Bank: Time To Ponder Over Its Fallacies
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/10/2008
I have not been to the United States of America, so there is no question of me visiting the World Bank’s Washington DC office. But those who were fortunate enough to visit the World Bank’s office told me that there is this slogan, “The purpose of the World Bank is to fight poverty with passion,” dis...

Food Habit and the Earth
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/21/2008
People all over the world now are aware of various socio- environmental issues. Today, environmental problems transcend national boundaries, they are not regarded as a local issue but rather a global issue and awareness among them is increasing.

Considering so, most of us now comprehend that...

American Economy: Strolling over the troubled waters
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/29/2008
Against a backdrop of growing concern about the recession, the central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve unexpectedly, out of the blue, slashed a key interest rate by three – quarters of a percentage point, from 4.25 percent down to 3.5 percent on Tuesday January 22nd after Federal Rese...

Nepal: No one knows what tomorrow shall beckon
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/30/2008
Summer has hardly begun, and yet Nepal is already enveloped in an impenetrable heat. Most people simply don’t have a clue where the nation is heading, and the few who do are not telling.

The truth, however, is this: The vultures are circling over the Nepalese sky. The carcasses are uglier th...

American Economy: Flirting with Recession
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/4/2008
The Earth revolves around the Sun, and around the Earth, US dollar revolves - until few years ago this used to be an omnipotent realism. But today, Earth still revolves around the Sun, but same cannot be said of the U. S dollar’s circulation around the Earth.

Unstable U.S. economy has led to...

Nepal’s petroleum policy: Subsidy is its one and only policy
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/5/2008
Nepalese government authorities are having a headache: In the past five years, crude oil prices have roughly tripled in nominal terms—from around US$30 per barrel to around US$90 but at the same time, Nepalese economy has deteriorated, and as a result the authorities are having trouble reconciling e...

The Bush - Bernanke Show Goes On
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/12/2008
Many Americans have lost confidence in their country's "economic security" over the last few years and as the recent CNN poll found that 57% of the public believe that the U.S. is already is recession.

The economic crisis is deepening and may soon get worse. Sensing this, America’s Central B...

Global Economy: Recession in America , Inflation in China
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/22/2008
Possible fear of Recession has created panic in America as its economy is in doldrums, whereas China is trying hard to cool its economy from overheating as inflation lurks in.

China’s inflation rose to its highest level in more than 11 years in January, according to the reports.

Cons...

Presidential gutter debates
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/26/2008
Presidential primary debates in the United States of America has spawned media coverage and caught the public’s attention, but the debates however has failed to lived up to its expectation - it has been labeled as monotonous and too personal by the public.

Just as races are not always to the ...

Nepalese economy: Plummeting by poly-tricks
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/28/2008
Investors and analysts worldwide have been inquiring after the Maoists truce and their inclusion in the government: When will Nepal bottom out? Is it away or just around the corner? After the Maoists stake in the government, the platform was set but then came the uproar in Terai and the popular indi...

Dire Electricity Crisis in Nepal : Darkness grows beneath the Everest
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 3/3/2008
Electricity has been playing a game of cat and mouse in Nepal . Out of the 24 hours, it is on only for 16 hours. Nepalese are forced to live without electricity for 8 hours, six days a week – 48 hours per week. Just imagine yourself living without electricity for such a long time in New York , Seoul...

Mao-less day: A rarity in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 3/30/2008
In Nepal they say it is impossible to have a “Mao-less day”, a day without Maoists intimidation. News headlines in Nepal seldom stray far from Maoists atrocities, verbal abuses, intimidation and their violent physical attacks against the leaders of other parties. And unfortunately for Nepal , Maoist...

Democratic premium in Nepal is getting bigger and wider
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 4/6/2008
Even if things are improving slowly, they are, at best, not getting worse for the Nepalese. The chief reason is that the democratic premium in Nepal is getting bigger as the political parties are fighting for their stake in the upcoming Constituent Assembly election, which many doubted would never h...

Out of the wreckage of Nepal’s uncertainty emerges a changed Maoist Party
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 4/12/2008
In my 4th April 2008, Global Politician Article, “Democratic premium in Nepal is getting bigger and wider,” (see http://www.globalpolitician.com/24440-nepal), I had argued that the democratic premium in Nepal is getting wider but to my utmost dismay, many readers accused me of being Pro- Maoist and ...

Global Food Crisis: The Tickling Bomb
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 4/29/2008
The poor world, it is said, is being torn apart by a food crisis. Parts are. Those who aren't yet affected are speculative because they aren't safe either as food prices have been rising all over the world.

According to "Rising Food Prices: Policy Options and World Bank Response," increases i...

Maoflation in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/11/2008
On the 13th of February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched the Nepalese People’s War, in which about 13,000 Nepalese were killed and many other were fatally maimed. They were so brutal then that they were labeled by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization. Unfortunate...

Nepal’s business environment: Stained by political uncertainties
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/16/2008
In the past couple of years, whole world has hailed an improvement in Nepal ’s political performance. But sustained political development is impossible without greater economic stability. Is that in prospect?



Nepal’s economy looks remarkably shaky given the storm clouds gathering all...

Beijing Olympics Showcases Chinese Supremacy
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/26/2008
It was Deng Xiaoping who opened the Chinese economy to the outside world. And now it is the Beijing Olympics that is showcasing to the whole world the supremacy of China, or in one way or the other, the rise of China.

China's development has been a phenomenon in the last couple of decades and...

ECONOMY: Wall Street Produces More Villains In A Year Than the Hollywood
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/17/2009
Old habits die hard in Corporate America. One of the most durable is a reluctant to be at all honest about the health of the organization in charge by the top executives of the firm.

If you doubt it, then look at the history of past financial crises in the United States and consider the corpo...

World Economy to further suffer from Economic Epidemic in 2009
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 2/5/2009
How many economists does it take to fight the recession and how long will the downturn last? The world is asking questions such as these every moment but no one has been able to answer these questions with accuracy.

The world is in crisis and more than ever before, our financial activities ha...

America: Is violence linked with recession?
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/3/2009
“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” In few countries does the old adage resonate more loudly than in the United States of America . America may be pulverizing the Taliban and al- Qaeda in the Pak- Afghan border and watching post-conflict transition in Nepal , especially the Maoists snail...

Rising food insecurity in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/7/2009
Hunger kills more people in the world than any other disease. Every day approximately 25000 people die from hunger and hunger related illness. Today, one in nearly seven people does not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, making hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to healt...

Diarrhoeal dilemma in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 8/31/2009
It sounded like an innocuous question from a foreign TV reporter – “What is the worth of a rural Nepalese life?” Except it came at a time when diarrhoeal epidemic in Jajorkot, Rukum, Bajhang, Baitadi, Rukum, Dailekh, Doti and various other Mid- Western region of the country have been wrecking havoc....

Child labor dilemma in Nepal
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 10/12/2009
Nepalese politicians never abstain from talking about making Nepal the most prosperous nation in the world but in reality their ever diminishing ethics are making the mockery of the ordinary Nepalese destiny. For instance, for all the money and attention devoted to the child laborers in Nepal , no o...