Ashfaque Swapan

The writer is an Atlanta (US) based freelance journalist.

The self-sabotaging president: Joe Biden’s broken legacy

Biden’s predicament must be considered in the context of the brutal political landscape in the Western world.

2m ago

Divided nation chooses US president in a bitter, closely fought race

Polls show a neck-and-neck race for the White House.

5m ago

Kamala rattles Trump, but how much will it matter?

Trump’s true calling might well have been to be a carnival barker (unkind critics may say a used-car salesman)

7m ago

Trump, now a felon, presents huge political challenge

Say what you will about former US President Donald Trump, but give him his due.

10m ago

Will the US and UK's support for Israel backfire?

There are growing signs of substantial public disaffection in these two nations which have been conspicuous in refusing to take Israel to task for its slaughter.

1y ago

Putin’s interview and the West’s extraordinary outrage

The media’s job to interview geopolitical adversaries.

1y ago

Trump’s impunity and the Republican Party meltdown

Trump is more a symptom rather than the cause of the current political crisis in the US.

1y ago

Why did the US almost shut down?

I heard that the US government was about to shut down because it was running out of money. How is that possible?

1y ago
November 6, 2021
November 6, 2021

For communal violence, the burden of guilt falls on the majority too

My dearest Hindu sisters and brothers, I am overcome with grief, outrage and shame as I write to you.

October 2, 2021
October 2, 2021

Auf Wiedersehen, Chancellor Merkel!

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves a distinguished—if unavoidably mixed—legacy as she ends a long stint at the helm of Germany, the economic powerhouse of the European Union.

September 18, 2021
September 18, 2021

The great ‘tamasha’ of California recall election

It was a political circus almost as outsized as America’s largest state: California.

August 15, 2021
August 15, 2021

A pluralism that transcended the sectarian divide

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is rightly celebrated for leading the people of Bangladesh to independence after a prolonged, decades-long struggle that required acute political acumen, a remarkable capacity to win the hearts of his people, and most important of all, that rare sort of courage that had the power to stare squarely into the eyes of death.

June 6, 2021
June 6, 2021

Sobering lessons 100 years after the massacre of African Americans

Racism is America’s original sin. Its manifestations are myriad, and notwithstanding occasional spurts of progress, the struggle for justice continues to be an uphill battle.

May 23, 2021
May 23, 2021

Domestic cracks in blanket US support for Israel

No child, Palestinian or Israeli, whoever they are, should ever have to worry that death will rain from the sky. How many of my colleagues are willing to say the same, to stand for Palestinian human rights as they do for Israeli? How many Palestinians have to die for their lives to matter?”

May 8, 2021
May 8, 2021

In fond remembrance of the colossus of Bengali cinema

Dear Satyajit Ray: Happy 100th birthday, maestro.

April 17, 2021
April 17, 2021

A US battle between democracy and the fear of it

Hello from Georgia, ground zero in a massive US political battle.

April 1, 2021
April 1, 2021

A plan that serves the people and a party that doesn’t

"Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years. Socialism is what they called public power.

March 13, 2021
March 13, 2021

A historic, trillion-dollar triumph for Biden and US

Despite razor-thin majorities in the US Senate and the House—where corralling lawmakers can be as frustrating as herding cats—Biden has managed the near-impossible task of steering through Congress a massive USD 1.9 trillion bill about to profoundly change America.