China

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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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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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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Multipolarity and the Middle East: The not-so-beautiful game

Four years ago, one of the defining images of the 2018 World Cup was of Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman together in the stands, sharing a joke as hosts Russia hammered Saudi Arabia five-nil. There will be no such repeat this time, given that Russia is – amazingly – too corrupt even for FIFA

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Belgium and Russia: More than a Mere footnote?

The death of Russian budget supermarket, Mere, in Belgium, just four months after opening can be read either as a cautionary tale of stunningly misreading the public mood on the part of the owners or a surprise that, given the strength of public feeling across Europe to Russian business, it took so long. Either way,

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