Abdur Rahman Chowdhury

President Obama in a speech on May 28 at the commencement ceremony of cadets at the Military Academy, West Point, summed up his foreign policy. Obama said, “America must always lead, if we don’t, no one else will. The military that you have joined is and always will be the backbone of that leadership. But […]

Mohamed Morsi, nominee of the Muslim Brotherhood, became the first ever elected president of Egypt. Morsi received nearly 52 percent votes from the electorate and took charge of the country in mid-2012. The Muslim Brotherhood had endured persecution at the hands of the ruling elite for more than six decades. A number of its leaders, […]

The 1948 war between the Arabs and Israelis resulted in the bifurcation of the holy city Jerusalem. The eastern part of the city was retained by Jordan and the western part was occupied by the newly created state of Israel. The city remained divided until the 1967 war when Israel scored a decisive military victory […]

The largest democracy in the world is at work again. Over 845 million voters are exercising their right of franchise one more time. The electoral exercise will continue till May 9. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Indian National Congress, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), […]

President Obama raised passions during his campaign for the presidency in 2008. The US believed he would revitalise the economy, bring ongoing wars to a halt, advance diplomacy over bellicosity in settling international disputes and restore human rights. The president charmed the Arabs when he said in Cairo in June 2009, “America’s strong bonds with […]

Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, has been restive since winter dawned in November 2013. Thousands of people were mobilised to demand the president of the country sign a comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union (EU). President Viktor Yanukovych, elected three years ago, defied the pressure and instead opted for closer ties with Russia. EU […]

Since the Bangladeshi parliamentary election held on January 5, 2014, several articles have appeared in the national dailies. There were many divergent views — some have justified holding the election for the sake of constitutional reasons and argued that a bad election was still better than no election. Others point out that the election fell […]

Why do people get addicted to something that, in the long run, turns out to be harmful? Because either it looks good or stimulates the human mind by energising our nerves. Once the effects retrench, the human body begins to feel miserable and then strives to get another dose. Doctors are of the opinion that […]

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and Germany (five plus one) signed a deal with the government of Iran on November 23, 2013 in Geneva. Iran, as per the deal, would stop enriching uranium above five percent and dilute its stock of 20 percent enriched uranium or convert it to […]

I resided in Baghdad from 2001 until mid-2003. This was the time when the Iraqi government arranged presidential elections. Saddam Hussein was the only candidate. His sycophants campaigned that the approval rating of their leader had increased and that he should score 100 percent votes in the presidential run up. On the day of the […]