Pushing Iran into China’s waiting arms was unlikely to have been a major US policy goal in the Middle East
Could Trump’s Sabre-Rattling against Iran Spoil the North Korea Negotiations?
Dissolution of the nuclear agreement may not go over well in Pyongyang.
Is China coming into Syria for its “One Belt, One Road”?
By Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – As the Syrian civil war begins to wind down after six and a half years of bitter fighting, a new phase is emerging in the battered country’s political life — plans for country’s postwar reconstruction are already being laid even as the fighting between Islamist rebels […]
Dragon Ascendant: Green China, not Red China, increasingly Bestrides the World
Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – “Surpass Britain and catch up with America” was one of the more idealistic slogans put about by Mao Zedong after he reunited China back into one country again in 1949. Though it would ultimately fall to his successor Deng Xiaoping to plant China’s feet back on the […]
Are China and N. Korea biggest Winners from Trump dissing Iran Deal?
In reneging on JCPOA re: Iran, Trump is giving North Korea new ammunition
Demand-Side Slavery, Libyan Instability and European Crime Networks
Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – After several years in which refugees and migration have featured heavily in the Western media narrative, a disturbing correlation between human trafficking and conflict zones is well established. But new studies indicate that conflicts do not just cause human trafficking as refugees seek to flee warzones; wars […]
Turkey’s Syrian blowback
London (Informed Comment) – With the New Year terrorist attack in Istanbul now being claimed by the Islamic State (IS) movement, it is clear that Turkey has suffered yet more blowback from its earlier tolerance of the Middle East’s most vicious terrorist network. The rampage, suspected to have been carried out by a Central Asian […]
Why is the US helping Saudi Arabia target Yemen’s future?
London (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia has long been accused of needlessly hitting civilian targets during its air campaign in neighbouring Yemen. Most commentators have put this down to a mixture of indifference and military incompetence on the part of the Saudi armed forces. Their capabilities against hardened fighters like the rebel Houthis were long […]
Defeating ISIL in Iraq will Take Sunni-Shiite Reconciliation, not Just Tanks
London (Informed Comment) – As Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian forces squeeze its territory in the Arab world and Turkey hunts down the group’s support networks and sympathisers inside its territory, it can seem like the days of Islamic State (IS) are finally numbered after a two year reign of terror in the region. However it […]
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