The Asian Crucible: Political Essays 2012-13

This book is a collection of political essays and commentaries written over a period of two years (2012-13). The impetus for writing these was primarily the unfolding events in the Asian continent – spanning the region from the Middle-East to South-East Asia – that had immediate and lasting political repercussions for the region and at times for the world at large.Since they were written at the time of the events taking place, a certain amount of prediction regarding the possible future is apparent in most of these essays. It is gratifing that with the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to confirm that most of the predictions have proven to be correct. In a majority of cases it is seen that there are no drastic differences to the forward view projected as far back as 2012 and the prevailing situation, three years later.This collection of essays form a slightly different genre to the normal political analysis in that they were commentaries of unfolding events as viewed at the time and can now be read and understood within a more historical – albeit very recent – context. These commentaries therefore form a bridge between contemporary political developments and their immediate past in a nuanced manner. They provide background information and at times even the raison d’etre for a number of political and geo-stategiec developments taking place now.