Politics

While originally a war waged by a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis, Yemen quickly turned into a war being fought as much between the Houthis and the coalition as within the coalition itself, particularly between Saudi Arabi and the UAE. Mutually conflicting interests within the coalition rather than the alleged Iranian support for the Houthis were…

In response to China’s increasing political and economic clout in the region of South Asia, Washington has intensified its efforts to promote its concept of the free and open Indo-Pacific. Donald Trump’s administration has borrowed this expression from Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe, who described his vision for the Indo…

The American shake down of its allies continues as President Trump and his Defence Minister, James Mattis attend the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11. The Americans are once again complaining that their allies in the NATO war machine don’t contribute enough to NATO, meaning the US, to fight America’s wars. Trump is really saying in so many words…

Challenges and threats facing the world today, first and foremost linked with international terrorism, are forcing all the nations to increasingly concern themselves with issues of security and military cooperation with their partners. Countries in South Asia and the Middle East where international terrorist units are particularly active pose an immediate and direct…

After the supposed US “withdrawal” from Syria – Western media outlets have causally reported on US troops now preparing to occupy Syria’s oilfields east of the Euphrates River. Articles include carefully selected “experts” who avoid any mention of how illegal or indefensible the presence of US forces in Syria is to begin with, let alone any mention of “why” US…

One of the most noteworthy events that took place in the Indo-Pacific recently was, undoubtedly, the fourth plenary session of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee (elected in October 2017), held from 28 to 31 October in Beijing. The previous (3rd) plenary session…

I recently wrote to Nareg Sererian, a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech University, US, who is also an old friend whom I know very well, bringing to his attention a website report by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about different transcripts, “takes-on-history,” on the events of the Armenian genocide and its…

Developments in Syria and Iraq are in an dynamic phase where day to day developments can distract from the assessment of probable midi- to long-term developments. Operand factors in this assessment are Russian – Turkish relations, a redirection of Russian Middle East policy, the accord on Iran’s nuclear energy program…

Documents have surfaced exposing US corporate lobbying behind one of Thailand’s supposed “pro-democracy” opposition parties, Future Forward Party (FFP). Future Forward, headed by union-busting nepotist billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was revealed to be aided by US-based corporate lobbying firm, APCO Worldwide…