The recent 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and other related summits in Bangkok fell below expectations, providing fodder to armchair sceptics who believe such summits are a waste of time. But on closer inspection, these summits can still be viewed as a glass half-full in reasserting ASEAN’s regionalism in the Indo-Pacific. […]
While Venezuelans are still suffering from the economic and political collapse of their ever diminishing democracy, the rest of Latin America has been mired in their own types of political problems. What are likely the most striking events have occurred recently in Chile. With a high cost of living and large divide between the wealthy […]
Following years of unrelenting repression and humiliation of Kashmiris, India has finally extinguished their last ray of hope by repealing Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution – both of which had granted Kashmir a special status. India did so in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions that forbade annexation of the […]
On October 23-24, the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum took place in Sochi. Over 10 000 participants and representatives of 54 African countries took part in the event. The participants signed more than 50 deals, at a total value of more than 800 billion rubles. Moreover, African countries received 300 cooperation offers in different fields. […]
Referring to the latest crisis between Iran and Saudi Arabia, President Trump said that he is not interested in going to war with Iran. I believe him. He has not shown an interest in starting new wars (although he has been quite willing to escalate ongoing ones on occasion). The real problem here, I believe, […]
The ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong put the question directly to Americans: just how important is freedom to us? There can be no mistake that the demonstrators aim for democratic rule, that they have reason to expect it, and that China denies it to them. The formal structure of the Hong Kong government, […]
Electricity is an important condition for the reduction of poverty and economic growth. The development of agriculture, education and technology demand sufficient and continuous electricity supply. The situation in Africa is fundamentally different. The shortage of energy significantly impedes the continent’s development. Approximately 70% of Africans don’t have reliable access to electricity. According to the […]
The Iraqi people want to return their country to its rightful owners. We should support them in this endeavor. In recent years, the Iraqi people have suffered immensely under tyrannical regimes. But now, the Iraqi people have had enough. They want free elections and they want democratic change. Furthermore, they are willing to fight as […]
Seeking to merely “contain” Putin is not enough. We have been outplayed, outsmarted and outmaneuvered in Europe, the Middle East, Venezuela, Africa and the Arctic. And at home. Point by point “cost imposing” measures against Russia have not worked. And simply repeating the pattern of reacting, deterring, responding, defending will not work. Moscow–minimally as a […]
With 96% of the votes counted, the recent Israeli elections are increasingly looking like the contested 2000 elections in the United States. Although Benny Gantz’s Blue and White received 33 seats in the Israeli Knesset against Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, who got only 31, it is unclear who will be the next Prime Minister of Israel. […]
The dream of the mullah’s regime in Iran is to establish a Shia Crescent from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea and to dominate the Middle East, if not the world entire. This is why Iran recently targeted the Saudi oil industry. This is why Iran is entrenching itself in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. This […]
New dangerous dynamics are emerging at the Horn of Africa. Political tension emanating from maritime territory that Somalia and Kenya, both claim it as part of their legitimate border is getting more volatile. As the International Court of Justice gets ready to hold public hearings on “Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v. Kenya)” […]
Naturally broken nations like Somalia that require intervention from the international community require a safe area where diplomats and other officials representing key governments and organizations could be hosted. Hence Somalia’s heavily guarded “Green Zone”, or Halane as it is commonly known. As a compound dominated by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers, mostly […]
Brazil is unique in Latin America as much as it is unique in the world. When working in Washington DC many years ago, the largest events were always the ones where the voice of Brazil was present via their Ambassador to the US. While Latin American allies of the US were often seen as almost […]
What to make of the new political realities in Ukraine? Both, the presidential and parliamentary Ukrainian elections of 2019 delivered historic results. Ukraine never had a President with so much electoral support (73%), and so little connection to the country’s old political class. Moreover, independent Ukraine never had a parliament with as dominant a party […]