Recent Posts

Afghan President Offers Three-Step Peace Plan

Addressing a conference on Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani described a three-step process for “making, building and sustaining peace” that he said should result in a “sovereign, democratic, united, neutral and connected Afghanistan.” The two-day Heart of Asia conference in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, is one of a host of regional conferences …

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Japan, Indonesia Sign Defense Deal Amid Beijing’s Maritime Expansion

Indonesia and Japan signed an agreement on Tuesday for the export of Japanese-made military equipment and technology to Jakarta, as both nations face Beijing’s increasing expansionism and maritime activities in disputed regional waters. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi inked the deal in Tokyo after …

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Battle For The Soul Of Islam

Trouble is brewing in the backyard of Muslim-majority states competing for religious soft power and leadership of the Muslim world in what amounts to a battle for the soul of Islam. Shifting youth attitudes towards religion and religiosity threaten to undermine the rival efforts of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and, …

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US, China, Russia and Thucydides Trap

The Paris Climate Accord is more of an aspiration than a strategy while the Iranian nuclear problem has always been a way of avoiding the real issue: the danger that the Islamist regime poses for regional peace and stability. [T]he Biden doctrine, if one might suggest such a label… could …

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Suez Canal reopens after stuck cargo ship is freed

Salvage teams on Monday finally freed the colossal container ship stuck for nearly a week in the Suez Canal, ending a crisis that had clogged one of the world’s most vital waterways and halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce. A flotilla of tugboats, helped by the tides, …

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Bulgarian ‘Assault’ On North Macedonia – Analysis

In Bulgaria regular parliamentary elections are due to take place on 4 April 2021. At the elections 240 representatives/deputies in the Bulgarian National Assembly will be elected according to the proportional system with closed lists. In each of a total of 31 election units, between four and 16 representatives/ deputies …

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Muhammad Bin Salman: The Delusions Of Borrowing Protection – OpEd

Ever since Muhammad Bin Salman otherwise known as MBS assumed the de facto leadership of Saudi Arabia, his rule has evidently been synonymous with one controversy after the next. Arbitrary detentions of critics, torturing family members during shakedowns, executing a revered cleric, creating a catastrophe in Yemen and of course …

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