At the end of July, a Russian military delegation led by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General Sergei Shoigu, visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. An official welcoming ceremony for the Russian delegation was held at the Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang with the participation of …
Read More »Is The US Dollar On Its Way Out? – Analysis
The United States has been instrumental in leading the post-war global economic system which it helped create. Yet its economic weight has declined over time and strategic competitors in emerging markets are calling for change, including possible ‘decoupling’. Some suggest that the US dollar’s days as the central global currency …
Read More »Democracy, diktats, and detention: Imran Khan gets cancelled
Imran Khan’s transformation from prime minister to prisoner stands as a stark cautionary tale for global leaders who challenge the ‘rules-based international order.’ In a striking judicial development on 5 August, a court in Islamabad handed down a significant verdict against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. The court found …
Read More »Iraq no longer needs foreign troops on its soil: PM
The Iraqi prime minister’s comments come a day after security sources suggest planes carrying US military personnel arrived at Ain al-Asad base in Anbar Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stated that Iraq “no longer needs the presence of foreign combat forces on its soil,” in a meeting with several …
Read More »Jihadists vs Fatah: The Trojan Horse in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps
The recent outbreak of violence in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp has sparked debate on security concerns, external machinations, Palestinian civil rights, and the fundamental question of the right to return. The deadly clashes that erupted in late July in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, a prominent Palestinian refugee settlement in …
Read More »Central Asia is the prime battlefield in the New Great Game
So long as Russia and China remain the region’s dominant political and economic powers, the Central Asian heartland will remain a US and EU target for threats, bribes, and color revolutions. Samarkand, Uzbekistan – The historical Heartland – or Central Eurasia – already is, and will continue to be, the …
Read More »What’s behind the US military surge in West Asia?
ISIS attacks in Syria and Iraq have declined by 68 percent and 80 percent respectively, per the US military’s own admission. So why is Washington sending, with no legal basis, an additional 6,000 troops into a region that doesn’t want them there? In a significant move that sent worrying ripples …
Read More »Window For Peace In Ukraine Missed, U.S. Officials Admit, Says Politico
A Politico report said: U.S. officials have told Politico that they may have “missed a window” to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. “We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” a U.S. official told Politico on Friday, adding that U.S. Chairman of the Joint …
Read More »From Political Islam to Muslim Democracy
The Ennahda Party and the Future of Tunisia Ennahda, one of the most influential political parties in the Arab world and a major force in Tunisia’s emergence as a democracy, recently announced a historic transition. Ennahda has moved beyond its origins as an Islamist party and has fully embraced a …
Read More »Pakistan’s Weak Political Assertiveness And Its Causes – OpEd
In a recent deal struck between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Pakistan negotiated another lifeline in the form of a $3bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to survive as a country. To the present date, IMF provided loans to Pakistan twenty-two times. A lending agreement between …
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