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Does China really want to go to war with Taiwan?

It is a certainty that China will invade Taiwan - if one believes the dystopian near future predicted by Western leaders today. After all, surely the blame for all current serious political problems and tensions in the world are to be placed solely at the feet of Chinese and Russian governments intransigence for not acquiescing [...]

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The day after the balloon went up

Social media, intelligence services and diplomats alike are all currently poring over images (and debris) of suspected Chinese spy balloons shot down over the USA, with explanations ranging from the prosaic ‘weather balloon’ to ‘military surveillance drone’ – and it taking the White House eight days to formally rule out extra-terrestrial involvement. But while the

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Modi, Putin and the future of India: Does truth still triumph?

If great minds think alike, then so too must great dictators. As the world emerged from pandemic lockdowns in December 2021, Russia’s President Putin made Narenda Modi of India the subject of only his second international visit in almost two years, and the first in a subsequent line of appearances in autocracies across Central Asia,

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Exile on Silk Road: The rise of the near abroad

There is a case to be made among historians that the Silk Road was the eighth wonder of the world: not a monument in stone, but a monument to furthering the cause of humanity, allowing for the transmission of economic, cultural and political exchanges between East and West in a manner previously unthinkable and surviving

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Russia, Ukraine and Africa: Against the grain

Is Russia’s war in Ukraine a localised conflict, a regional war, or a global disaster? The military action concentrated on one country alone would suggest the first, the various nuclear- and cyber-threats against Europe the second, but global trends are increasingly confirming the third. It is possible to view the Russian invasion, and by extension

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Creating a Dictator

The quagmire of a lengthy, painful, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign in Afghanistan in the 1980s is credited with hastening the demise of the Soviet Union. History could well be repeating, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stretches into an eleventh month and domestic discontent with Putin’s war continues to rise. Could this be the trigger that

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China: Tiananmen Square 2.0

The recent unrest in China against the zero-Covid lockdown policy, spanning multiple cities and regions, certainly emulates the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. While no iconic photos of brave individuals standing in front of an army of tanks have surfaced yet, the courage of the Chinese people under authoritarian rule protesting for freedom and liberty needs

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Cryptocurrency: Step right up for a miracle?

As the pioneers and settlers spread out across the Wild West, a new type of person sprang up in the saloons and squares of the new world: the snake oil salesmen. These charmers would offer tonics promised to cure absolutely any ailment, for an unbelievable price, in a deal that the good townsfolk would be

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