An official announcement on May 21 revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will be visiting the United States in June, where he will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at a Californian retreat. The visit is a fitting end to the first round of diplomatic outreach by the new Chinese leadership. Read Here – The Diplomat
Islam appears to hold a strange fascination for white British women who are converting to it in large numbers. Of an estimated 50,000 or so white Britons who convert to Islam every year, some two-thirds are thought to be women. Most of them are independent career women — bankers, doctors, broadcasters — who know what […]
The South West Pacific is dotted with small and micro states, with many only recently winning independence and still facing varying degrees of internal instability. These countries range from tiny islands to artificial amalgamations of diverse cultures. The largest, Papua New Guinea, has over 800 different languages, a tough proposition for any national government, quite […]
f one were to ask people on the streets of any African capital to name a union of states that readily comes to mind, they are likely to mention the United Nations, the US and possibly the European Union. And the African Union? Oh yes, yes, I have heard of it, a few might say. […]
The paradoxical nature of politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been on full display in this short campaign season for the presidency. As plenty of commentators — both in the Iranian and Western media — have pointed out, much of the action took place before the race was officially under way. This week, […]
Sunni Iraqis are fighting for their rights, which are completely legitimate. But a select few have carried flags of Saddam Hussain‘s regime during the demonstrations, losing them legitimacy in the eyes of Shias, who are worried about a returning Baathist tide to return under the cloak of Al Qaeda. Making matters worse, the truth is […]
Sanctions, particularly economic sanctions, have long been a tool of U.S. foreign policy, and few presidents have leaned on them as much as Barack Obama or been as successful at rallying others to do the same. To thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the U.S. has cajoled and bullied much of the world to slash imports of […]
This week, Michael Sheridan of the Sunday Times revealed that China’s Communist Party is internally circulating an anti-Western screed, “Minutes of the 2013 National Conference of Propaganda Chiefs: Briefing on the Ideological Situation at the Present Time.” Among other things, the document tells officials they must “completely understand the harm of viewpoints and theories propagated by the West.” […]
If the BRICS states see the Syrian conflict less as a geopolitical chessboard and more through the eyes of a Syrian refugee, they will be able to involve themselves sincerely into this seemingly intractable and dangerous conflict. Read Here – The Hindu
A half-century after the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the border between China and India remains undefined and a constant source of friction between the world’s two most populous countries. Following three weeks of fighting in 1962, it was agreed to draw a Line of Actual Control (LAC). But, five decades later, the map has yet […]
