Back to Gideon Rachman
On the day I arrived in Delhi last September, terrorists had set off bombs in markets across the city. The receptionist at the Taj hotel told me that they were advising guests to stay inside to avoid danger. The hotel felt like a sanctuary from the chaos outside. When I set off the metal-detector coming back into the Taj, the security guard just laughed and bowed deeply.
My next stop was the Taj Palace hotel in Mumbai – the scene of last week’s tragic killings and siege. At the time, there was next to no security. That looks bad now. But the sad truth is that you can have very tight checks at these hotels and still be vulnerable. I also stayed at the Marriott in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, earlier this year. All cars entering its driveway were checked for explosives. But a couple of months ago, it was still destroyed by a bomb that caused scores of deaths.
Experts on terrorism will be poring over the attacks on Mumbai, looking for lessons and ideas. Here are three. First, hotels are increasingly the targets of choice for terrorists. Second, south Asia rather than the Middle East is the centre of the problem. Finally, terror thrives off conflict: so provoking a war between India and Pakistan would count as a triumph for the people who attacked Mumbai.
The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.
This blog covers a variety of topics from US foreign policy to European politics and the Middle East - and whatever else happens to be in the news or catch my attention. I joined the FT as chief foreign affairs commentator in 2006, after a 15-year career at The Economist which included stints as a correspondent in Brussels, Bangkok and Washington. I write a weekly column on foreign affairs, which appears in the paper on Tuesdays. Occasionally my FT colleagues contribute posts to this blog.
Geoff Dyer is the FT's China bureau chief. He has been a correspondent in Shanghai and in Brazil and has also covered the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries from London.
Roula Khalaf is the FT's Middle East editor. She has worked for the FT since 1995, first as North Africa correspondent, then Middle East correspondent and most recently as Middle East editor. Before joining the FT, she was a staff writer for Forbes magazine in New York. 
James Blitz is the FT's defence and diplomatic editor. He has been the FT's political editor, based in London, and Rome bureau chief. James is a former Moscow bureau chief for the Sunday Times.
Alan Beattie is the FT's world trade editor. He has previously been economics leader writer and spent two years in Washington DC as chief US economics correspondent. Before joining the FT, Alan was an economist at the Bank of England. 
Victor Mallet is the FT's Madrid correspondent. He is a former Asia editor of the FT, and, in more than 20 years at the organisation, has also worked in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In 1990 he escaped from Kuwait after being one of the few foreign correspondents there when Iraq invaded. 
Stefan Wagstyl is the FT's eastern Europe editor, co-ordinating coverage of the region. He has also been the FT's bureau chief in Tokyo and New Delhi.
