After threatening to set up an air defense identification zone, what might the economic impact be if Beijing went one step further and closed off the entire area inside its so-called “nine-dash line”? Read Here – The National Interest
China’s true interest in the South China Sea has much more to do with history and politics than with oil and security. The South China Sea dispute is not about China’s interpretation of international law. It’s about China’s interpretation of itself. Read Here – Aljazeera
May 23rd marked the 65th anniversary of the Chinese annexation of Tibet. That was the day the “Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet” was declared in the aftermath of the Chinese invasion of October, 1950. The document was rejected by many Tibetans at the time, and has been controversial ever since. Read […]
When the Arab world was tolerant and accepting of others, it led the world: From Baghdad to Damascus to Andalusia and farther afield, we provided beacons of science, knowledge, and civilization, because humane values were the basis of our relationships with all civilizations, cultures, and religions. Even when our ancestors left Andalusia, people of other […]
Turkey is already entangled in a crisis with Russia that has the potential of escalating dangerously. For many, opening up a new front for controversy — this time with Baghdad — may not seem a wise move, but it needs to be assessed within a broader regional context. Read Here – Al Monitor
In his new biography of Henry Kissinger, the historian Niall Ferguson recalls that halfway through what became an eight-year research project, he had an epiphany. Tracing the story of how a young man from Nazi Germany became America’s greatest living statesman, he discovered not only the essence of Kissinger’s statecraft, but the missing gene in […]
Saddam was a tyrant and an aggressor, but are Iraq and the region really better off without him? Consider just some of the consequences of the war that removed him. Read Here – The Atlantic
It is hard to imagine, say, the monarchs of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, or Norway as global brands in quite the same way. And while the successful branding of the British royal family is partially a product of Britain’s historic role in the world, it also has causes closer to home—in the evolving relationship between British […]
Certainly, the English didn’t arrive on Indian shores as long-lost parents, but as traders from a poorer nation. If they then became parent-like, authoritarian and wealthy, they also left their progeny destitute upon their departure on 1947: so the middle-aged offspring might have some reason for complaint. Read Here – The Guardian
Overall, India’s diplomacy with Iran has been rooted in economic interests and buttressed by civilizational links. New Delhi’s contemporary cooperation with Tehran is mainly premised on India’s energy security, access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, and its enduring rivalry with Islamabad. It is worth emphasizing that India’s interests in Central Asia are substantial, and it […]
looking beyond borders 