HP Lovecraft is the subject of continued fascination among scholars, readers and cultists in every part of the world where horror matters and sanity is a minor irritant. In many respects, he remains an enigma, the focus of constant speculation. The Cthulhu Mythos will always find willing contributors.

The common view of HP Lovecraft's philosophy is that he was nihilistic, within one of the many disputed meanings of the term or, at the very least, that he viewed the universe as essentially hostile to life and reason. A careful interpretation of the subtext of his seminal story The Call of Cthulhu¹ reveals that the tale of dread horror was a libertarian manifesto- a satire on the monstrousness of the state. As I will demonstrate, Lovecraft's belief in individual rights and freedom was intimately linked to his loathing for miscegenation and his racist worldview.

( More on Lovecraft: Champion of Free Markets )

India's coming eclipse of China. Mr. Restall seems to think India has the long-run advantage.
The most interesting part of the article, for me, was this:

China’s embrace of globalization was never built on a solid foundation, and thus a public backlash against the government could bring the whole edifice down. Andy Xie, Morgan Stanley’s chief Asian economist, recently released a report entitled “Time to Change,” which concluded: “Rising internal tension over inequality and external friction over China’s trade success suggest that China’s government-led and export/investment-driven development model may be reaching its limits.”

Meanwhile, India’s politics are as tumultuous as ever, but the caravan of reform moves on, regardless of changes of government. That’s because under its strong democracy, India has worked through dissent rather than sweeping it under the carpet. Now the country is finally getting a fillip from the phenomenon that has kept China afloat all these years: When a rising tide is lifting most boats, disputes over necessary reforms become less acrimonious. At or above the current level of 8% growth, some believe, India is able to pursue reform and use its increased revenues to compensate sectors of the population who are temporarily left behind.

Also in the same issue: The Siren Song of technonationalism , and some interesting speculations on inter-Asian regional cooperation in technology.

I think these speculations are moot. As I said elsewhere, I think that the combined Brown And Yellow Peril is going to drown everyone else in a world of shite.