“The beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning, the Middle East war enters a new phase”… Gordon… More►
Politics
17.10.2017
OSCE’S Minsk Group: Often Flippant Agenda and New American Co-Chair
The OSCE Minsk Group has a new American co-chair. Andrew Schofer will serve as the OSCE Minsk Group’s new US co-chair, the interim US Co-Chair, Ambassador Richard…
USA in the World
17.10.2017
Trump’s Rejection of the JCPOA Poses a Major Threat
President Trump has announced that he is no longer willing to certify Iran’s compliance with the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed to by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus…
USA in the World
17.10.2017
Tehran has Struck a Crushing Blow to Washington's Positions in Iraq
On October 14, Baghdad issued an ultimatum to Kurdish militant groups, particularly the Peshmerga, demanding them to abandon the province of Kirkuk. Similar demands were voiced by Iraqi political leaders immediately after…
Middle East -
Iran
16.10.2017
US Meddling Across Southeast Asia
At a time when US political leaders decry with little evidence what they claim is a pandemic of “Russian interference” in Western political affairs from Western Europe to North America, years of documented evidence exist of this very…
USA in the World
16.10.2017
Any chances for Mohammed bin Salman to retain power?
The state visit of the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to Russia on October 4-8, 2017 had a profoundly symbolic meaning. Its importance goes beyond the scope of the economic and investment agreements signed…
Middle East -
Saudi Arabia
16.10.2017
How Decertifying Iran Deal is Trump’s Stupidest Decision?
Although there is a long list of decisions where the US president Trump can be said to have acted rather whimsically, his decision to decertify the hard-earned Iran nuke deal certainly stands out as the stupidest decision he has…
Middle East -
Iran
15.10.2017
Moon Jae-in’s Great Purge. Episode 4: Struggle against Park Geun-hye’s Legacy
In reviewing the action plan of the new South Korean president to enhance his position in office and create some space for a new team, we should not fail to also look at the policy of the new government focusing on the measures…
Eastern Asia -
South Korea
Economics
13.10.2017
A Greek Recovery That Cannot Come in This Climate of Chaos
Here in Greece the people on the street are fed up with politicians, all of them. A land with as much potential for growth as any, is hard pressed to maintain its dignity, culture, and sense of worth. And waiting in the wings, the same sharks that bit into Greece before…
Europe
10.10.2017
The Transforming China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
In May, 2017 the Prime Minister of India refused to participate in the founding meeting in Beijing of the ambitious Belt-Road Initiative (BRI), the network of high-speed rail and deep water port linkages across the Eurasia land mass…
Southern Asia -
Pakistan
29.09.2017
India in Search of Alternatives to OBOR
As is well known, India is the main competitor of China in Asia. This has recently been most evident in the way India has related to the Chinese One Belt and One Road Initiative. Realizing the importance of international transport corridors…
Southern Asia -
India
21.09.2017
Even After Sanctions, North Korea has a Lot to Cheer About
Politics of sanctions is not known to have been an effective source of bringing about political change. This is particularly evident from the way Iran has thwarted the US and EU sanctions in the last decade or so, and this is even…
Eastern Asia -
North Korea
19.09.2017
EU is About to Put an End to China's Carefree Shopping Spree
In late August, German Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries issued an official letter to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in which she…
Eastern Asia -
China
19.09.2017
Russia’s Interesting New Oil Geopolitics
Since the 1928 Red Line Agreement between British and French and American oil majors to divide the oil riches of the post-World War I Middle East, petroleum or more precisely, control of petroleum has constituted the thin-red-line of modern geopolitics. During the Soviet time Russian…
Russia in the World
13.09.2017
Gold Oil Dollars Russia and China
The 1944 Bretton Woods international monetary system as it has developed to the present is become, honestly said, the greatest hindrance to world peace and prosperity. Now China, increasingly backed by Russia—the two great…
USA in the World
Society
15.10.2017
The Greatest Indonesian Painter and ‘Praying to the Pig’
Djokopekik (who uses only one name, as is common in Java) could easily be described as the greatest living Indonesian painter. He is something of an anomaly in his country, where vulgar pop art, pop music and almost absolute…
Southeast Asia
12.10.2017
How the West is Trying to Recreate Myanmar's Crisis in Thailand
Media platforms either directly funded by the United States government or by their political proxies in Thailand, including US-funded Prachatai and Khao Sod English, have…
Southeast Asia -
Thailand
09.10.2017
Catalan Independence: Out of Madrid's Frying Pan, Into the NATO Fire?
Media on all sides surrounding the recent Catalan referendum for independence from Spain focused on Madrid’s security crackdown on voters. However, what is not being mentioned about Catalonia’s ongoing bid to achieve…
Europe
08.10.2017
Tricks and Trades of the Matrix - Western Private Education in Georgia “not-as-billed”
There is no such thing as a neutral education system. It either teaches people to buy into the existing status quo and support it, or gives them problem-solving skills in order for them to change it. This is why foreign…
Caucasus -
Georgia
08.10.2017
Spain, Germany and Beyond
2017 minus 1936 = 81, an untidy number, not even a prime number. 1936 marked the start of the Spanish Civil War that resulted in a long hiatus for the Spanish left, as well as the failure of Weimar Germany’s socialists to prevent Hitler from remilitarizing…
Europe
06.10.2017
52 Years After Fascist Genocide, Indonesians Scared of “Communist Ghosts”
It was once again a hot, muggy day in Jakarta. The air was full of pollutants, epic traffic jams blocking entire center of the city. Biasa, as locals would say, or in a lax translation, ‘business as usual’. It is September…
Southeast Asia
02.10.2017
“New Energy Vehicles”: Can China Break Big Oil’s Global Order?
In the antebellum south of the United States, the planation owning slaveholders kept their power because of an economic order summed up by the slogan “Cotton is King.” In today’s international order, a small clique of western monopolists…
Eastern Asia -
China
