"Keep the Persians hungry, and the Arabs fat." For the British -- then the stewards of Persian destiny -- that was the formula for maintaining calm; it still is for Saudi Arabian leaders, who simply distribute large amounts of cash to their citizens at the first sign of unrest at their doorstep. But in the case of Iran, neither America nor Britain seems to be observing the old dictum. …

All the protagonists of the nation’s social, cultural, economic and political life must work to overcome useless and counterproductive polarization, and to find solutions to domestic, regional and international problems. The political system must be reformed, and the judiciary—and the independence of magistrates—restored. Pride of place must be given to the fight against corruption, cronyism and insecurity. …

If the Baloch have genuine grievances (they certainly do), they must be addressed. The powers that be simply cannot brush their genuine demands aside by labelling them as treasonous. Callousness is one luxury we cannot afford in Balochistan, at least not anymore. In a perverse way we should be thankful to those who tabled this resolution for waking us up from our slumber….

Today, three apparently coordinated attacks on Israeli diplomats in Georgia, India and Thailand, for which Tel Aviv is strenuously blaming Iran, could become the spark for a similar conflagration in the Middle East. In 1914 it was Austria, a minor player in the great power game that lit the fuse that blew up Europe. …

What happened in Swat is a classic example of how denial fuelled by the conspiracy theories ends up supporting the militants. Today the Muslim world is plagued by this conspiracy theory-mindset. Although conspiracy theories are prevalent everywhere but the extent to which these dominate the Muslim world is mind boggling and as the above example shows, can lead to catastrophic results. …

Egypt is running out of foreign reserves, its currency is falling, inflation is rising and unemployment is rampant. Egypt today has only two predators: poverty and illiteracy. After 30 years of Mubarak rule and some $50 billion in U.S. aid, 33 percent of men and 56 percent of women in Egypt still can’t read or write. That is a travesty. ...

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own. The program would entail learning that other people''s suffering is as legitimate as ours, it is easy to see ourselves as victims, but we must also see the perpetrator in us that remains silent or justifies oppression of others or turns the head other way. To read part 1, click here.

Israel has good reason to worry about Iran. The Jewish state has in the recent past been judged to be responsible for the killing of five Iranian nuclear scientists,... While the US is pushing India to downgrade ties with Tehran, it seems unconcerned about the fact that India has had to turn to Iran for transit rights into Central Asia...

The clarion call by the Saudis to bomb Iran is sending shockwaves throughout the Muslim world. It is also strange to accept the Israeli stance on their nuclear policy. Israel says that it has the right to own hundreds of nuclear bombs, but other regional governments in the Middle East are not entitled to even enriching uranium. ...

An extraordinary hearing of the U.S. Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 8 exclusively focusing on the restive Balochistan province of Pakistan has triggered new diplomatic tensions between Washington D.C. and Islamabad. At least five members of the U.S. Congress belonging to both the Democratic and the Republican parties and a retired colonel of the military directly or indirectly called for supporting the Baloch right to self-determination. …

Washington has made tremendous preparations for a military assault on Iran. There is speculation that Washington has called off its two longest running wars--Iraq and Afghanistan--in order to deploy forces against Iran. Washington has presented Israel a gift from the hard-pressed American taxpayers of an expensive missile defence system, money spent for Israel when millions of unassisted Americans have lost their homes. . ...

Carter tried to get the hostages freed by sending a secret military mission that failed miserably. The hostage issue was the main cause for Carter’s defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980. The US has made serious mistakes in its policy towards Iran in the recent past. It has not learnt from those mistakes. It is likely to commit more mistakes. If Israel attacks Iran in the near future, the primary reason for it is the failure of the US to understand the issues involved, to prevail upon Israel and prevent miscalculated adventurism on its part. -- K. P. Fabian

I believe at the heart of the world peace is the Israel Palestine conflict, it is the mother of all conflicts, and if we can find a solution to this, peace is on the horizon ready to shine on us. He told us the "individuals" were responsible for the bloodshed and not the religions;... He was crystal clear; you cannot annihilate, kill, hang or beat the religion, then why bark at it?-- Mike Ghouse

Iranian politicians talk tough, but they have actually proven themselves to be masterful negotiators behind the scenes. Would you want to enter war against a country if you had 4% of the military budget of your opponent? And if the last two countries your enemy had attacked had ended up as devastated as Iraq and Afghanistan? Iran faces an American military force that dwarfs its own. Lastly, the United States possesses a whole series of military resources that no other country on the planet has access to. -- Omid Safi