For those Chinese paying attention to Xi Jinping’s four-country tour of the Americas this week, one question stands out: Why would their president want to spend two informal days, more or less one-on-one with U.S. President Barack Obama in the middle of the desert? This isn’t just a matter of protocol — though there are plenty of questions […]
There will be a lot more than the bacon on the table in California for Obama and Xi, both of whom face massive domestic challenges, when they meet and start a process to getting to know each other. Personal relationship between leaders is always helpful to diplomacy, and this will be a test for a […]
The Shangri-La Dialogue sets the compass for strategic ties in the Asia-Pacific region. India’s absence at the recent Singapore meet exposes the bankruptcy of its security policy, says Manoj Joshi Read Here – The Hindu
Amid Syria‘s worsening crisis, there is another unprecedented, yet overlooked phenomenon that bodes ill for the entire region: the rise of global Shia jihadism. The number of foreign Shia jihadists in Syria is arguably greater than Sunni ones. So what will this new trend mean, asks Hassan Hassan, Read Here – The National
China is a failure when it comes to soft power – or so we’re told. A giant in the hard-power leagues of money and military strength, China is often portrayed as a minnow swimming against the global tide of ideas and perceptions. Unloved and misunderstood, the country can only get things done through the use […]
As tensions on the Korean Peninsula have grown, much of the relevant conversation within the United States has focused on China, the one nation that, according to many American policymakers, can control the North Korean leadership. Does it, or is i a flawed view? Read Here – The Diplomat
As the tear gas wafts over Taksim Square, there is no question that Erdogan still holds the reins of power. For one, it is hard to see how Turkey’s moribund opposition can capitalize on his missteps. Further, although AKP supporters are watching the protests with consternation, they are not ditching their membership cards. Read […]
The proposal by the U.S. and Russia to hold a diplomatic conference to end the carnage in Syria deserves a less skeptical reaction than it has received. While it will be difficult to get all of the relevant parties to the table in Geneva any time soon, much less to ensure an outcome that will stick, diplomacy is the only game left. As much as one might wish otherwise, every other […]
There are many reasons to be sceptical about the Prime Minister’s capacity to deliver on his promises to Pakistanis and India, but his victory offers hope. Read Here – The Hindu
More than a century and a half after it was published, Alexis de Tocqueville’s “The Old Regime and the Revolution” has become an unlikely best-seller in China. Wang Qishan, China’s anti-corruption czar, is reportedly among the senior leaders obsessed with what he sees as the book’s cautionary message: that increasing prosperity and piecemeal political reform didn’t protect France’s pre-revolutionary regime […]
