Politics

On 11 September, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his cabinet yet again. As a result, one of the most respected politicians in post-war Japan will be the head of his fourth Cabinet since his triumphant return to Japan’s political arena (at the end of 2012). We would like to remind our readers that Shinzo Abe first became Prime Minister as far back…

Mongolia is truly a bridge between Europe and Asia, and its location is fairly important strategically. However, because of economic inequality and numerous social problems plaguing this nation at the end of the previous century, there was limited interest in Mongolia from leading…

In a recent very insightful article, analyst Alistair Crooke argued that the United States was institutionally incapable of making a substantive deal with Iran. Written before the recent removal of national security adviser John Bolton from his position, Mr Crooke argued that decades long sanctions have…

With the next US presidential election approaching, Donald Trump twitted that he had a conversations with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the possibility of striking a defence pact between Washington and Tel-Aviv. Thus, the head of the American…

With Germany counting the votes on a state election that sees a predictable rise in the right-wing, Alternative for Germany, and Italy struggling to vote in a government that would replace the Five Star’s right-wing partner with a social-democratic one, notwithstanding continued Yellow Vest demonstrations, as…

Recent news of Bangkok signing a 6.5 billion Thai Baht deal with China to procure a naval landing ship (a landing platform dock or LPD) further illustrates growing ties between Beijing and Bangkok in the sphere of military matters. The Thai Royal Navy’s only other ship…

Will John Bolton be the downfall of Donald Trump? Is what is now in the news but a prelude to a greater story? It all depends whether you want to accept the official story of why Trump dismissed his BIG MOUTH national security advisor, President Ousts…

The September 2019 attack that cut Saudi Arabia’s oil production by up to 60% and has thrown the world into chaos was not a surprise.  The claim by US Secretary of State that “Iran did it” is no surprise as well. That Yemen did it, destroyed the world’s largest oil refinery that has…

A 3-day visit to China by Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, who was accompanied by a sizable delegation, began on 6 September. The visit itself and its outcomes are quite telling and indicative of the ever increasing pace of the radical transformation the current world order is undergoing…

With the world on fire in so many places, trying to write an overview can be a daunting task when a book-sized effort is really needed. But our commentaries here can help readers begin to connect the dots as to why this is all happening, what the downside risks are to us, and what options we have to try to approach it better…