Russia Expands Oil Trade South via Afghanistan, Seeking Warm Water Ports
Last week, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan announced plans to build a logistics center in Herat province in western Afghanistan, according to an interview given to Reuters by the Taliban’s...
View ArticleCan Taiwan Block Telegram?
It was two years ago, in May 2022, that I wrote an op-ed for a Taiwan online magazine, entitled “Can Hong Kong block Telegram?” Little did I imagine that, in 2024, Taiwan itself would be embroiled in a...
View ArticleChina and Russia Disagree on North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons
China has been ambivalent about North Korea and its strategic behaviors for the last few decades, leading scholars in China to describe North Korea as both “strategic asset” and “strategic liability.”...
View ArticleRising Voices of Dissent in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir
Amid daunting economic struggles and escalating tensions in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the streets of Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, have become the epicenter of unrest. Led by the Jammu...
View ArticleRoad to Busan for a Plastic-free Future
The Fourth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution ended on April 29. A year and a half into the...
View ArticleXi Jinping’s Europe Diplomacy Stalemate
On May 13, China Central Television, a state media outlet, published a documentary of President Xi Jinping and his state visits to three European countries last week. The 26-minute-long propaganda film...
View ArticleHow Chinese Maoism Intellectually Shaped Modern Palestinian Jihadism
Contemporary China no longer adheres to Mao Zedong’s ideas of permanent revolution and socialist internationalism. However, Chinese Maoism shaped the Palestinian national movement with a military...
View ArticleNo China-US Trade War This Year, But Uncertainty Ahead in 2025
On May 14, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai released a review report on the Section 301 tariffs imposed on China and issued a statement indicating that President Joe Biden had directed her to...
View ArticleWhy Xi’s Europe Tour Was Seen Positively in Moscow
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits to Paris, Belgrade, and Budapest received mixed reviews across the transatlantic bloc. Some cited further pressure on China to influence Russia as a positive...
View ArticleWhy Is Vietnam Becoming A Police State?
Once known for political stability, albeit of the one-party, authoritarian sort, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is gaining a reputation for unpredictability. It has sacked two state presidents in...
View ArticleVietnam Removes Another Top Leader as Political Blood-Letting Continues
Another high-ranking official has stepped down in Vietnam in connection with the country’s wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, the third top official to fall on the swords in recent weeks. In a...
View ArticleASEAN Envoy Travels to Myanmar, Meets Military Junta Chief
A delegation from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) traveled to Myanmar this week and met with the head of the country’s military junta in a bid to move forward with a possible...
View ArticleThe Philippines’ $35 Billion Military Modernization Plan, Explained
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently approved a “wish list” of big-ticket military procurements with an estimated value of around $35 billion (2 trillion Philippine pesos), which will be...
View ArticleCan Taiwan Block Telegram?
It was two years ago, in May 2022, that I wrote an op-ed for a Taiwan online magazine, entitled “Can Hong Kong block Telegram?” Little did I imagine that, in 2024, Taiwan itself would be embroiled in a...
View ArticleCan Japan Boost Its Foreign Students Count to 400,000?
In late April, the administration of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio revised a Justice Ministry ordinance in order to firm up regulations regarding the acceptance of international students. Under the new...
View ArticleFrom Tsai to Lai: The Past, Present, and Future of Taiwan’s Foreign Policy
Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s fifth popularly elected president, is set to be sworn in on May 20 and will deliver his inaugural address in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. The Democratic...
View ArticleWhy the US Must Rethink Its Strategy to Compete With China in the EV Market
The Biden administration’s decision to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) signals a pivotal moment in China-U.S. trade relations. This maneuver aims to protect the...
View ArticleWill China Succeed in Creating an Asian Security Order?
From April 18-23 2024, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a three-nation tour of Cambodia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. The trip is part of a packed diplomatic agenda that’s been in motion since...
View Article‘Cold War 2.0’: George Takach on the Evolving World Order
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year and tensions escalate across the Middle East and beyond, global security concerns are reaching new heights. Reflecting on the mounting geopolitical...
View ArticleWhy Nepal Escalated Its Map Dispute With India
On May 12, the economic adviser to the president of Nepal, Chiranjivi Nepal, resigned following his criticism of the government’s decision to print a contentious map showing disputed territories with...
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