The U.S. government should realign its objectives towards the Atlantic Alliance in the Middle East with the reality of NATO’s regional engagement. Given the limitations of NATO’s military cooperation—however, small successes it has yielded—and its security assistance, it should not expect to decisively impact the military effectiveness of Middle Eastern partners. But NATO has and [...]
Tag: Geopolitics
Looking at War Across 2,500 Years – The New York Times
I think the United States was right to invade Afghanistan after 9/11 (yet wrong to stay any longer than six months). But even as I differed with his words, I was glad to read them. Edstrom is asking hard questions that both the American people and their leaders have sidestepped for years. For example, he [...]
Asian century began in May 2020 – Asia Times
Asian economic recovery is consistent with success in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic. China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have Covid-19 death rates a tenth of Germany’s and a hundredth of the rate in the US, UK, France or Spain. Asia’s short-term surge followed its success in disease prevention. But the long-term driver [...]
How Do You Know If You’re Living Through the Death of an Empire? – Mother Jones
The fall of an empire—the end of a polity, a socioeconomic order, a dominant culture, or the intertwined whole—looks more like a cascading series of minor, individually unimportant failures than a dramatic ending that appears out of the blue. Carts full of olive oil failing to arrive at some nameless fort because of a dysfunctional [...]
“Land Apart, Shared Sky”: Sino-Japanese Relations Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic – Jamestown
Over the last several years, Sino-Japanese relations have registered steady progress. Despite the intensified international criticism directed toward the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the administrations in both Beijing and Tokyo seem keen to maintain this newfound status quo. Russia, Cambodia, and a number of [...]
Asia needs a megaphone | The Japan Times
The region's rise demands attention to a broader cross section of its thinkers. Asia’s rise is unmistakable. The region claims more than half the world’s population, and should, this year, become home to half the world’s middle class (defined as those living in households with daily per capita incomes between $10 and $100 at 2005 [...]
Egypt and the Gulf: Allies and Rivals | Chatham House
Following the completion of the IMF programme in 2019, the Egyptian economy is in a much stronger position than it was in the early period of Sisi’s rule, even though this has exacted a harsh toll on the 60 per cent of the population classified by the World Bank as poor or vulnerable. There is no pressing need for direct financial support from the Gulf, but Egypt still depends on economic linkages through [...]
The rise of the Chinese World Order – Asia Times
“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” – Chinese proverb The above proverb tells a lot about the Chinese — Read on asiatimes.com/2020/05/the-rise-of-the-chinese-world-order/
Haunted by a phantom, China fights a modern-day siege – Nikkei Asian Review
For Chinese people who study history, the parallels between China's current situation and what happened at the dawn of the 20th Century are clear. The Boxer Protocol was an unequal treaty that recognized the right of foreign powers to station troops in China. Many believe it precipitated the fall of the Qing dynasty. The memories [...]
Will a Global Depression Caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic Trigger Another World War?
Will a Global Depression Caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic Trigger Another World War? The bottom line: Economic conditions (i.e., a depression) may affect the broader political environment in which decisions for war or peace are made, but they are only one factor among many and rarely the most significant. Even if the COVID-19 pandemic has [...]
