Beijing may face challenges in using history to advance its claims, while the US may face them regarding its future standing in the world China likes to use history to make its political points. But it may no longer work. History is helpful as an example to tell contemporary people that something from the past […]
China may be playing a complex chess game in Eurasia, with North Korea, Russia, and Taiwan as its pawns against the United States. The war in Ukraine created a new opportunity for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to pursue politics as his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, did eight decades ago between China and Russia. He gained […]
It’s a battle for the hearts and minds of the rich. Will they believe in the old metallic foundation of money – gold — or the modern underpinning of currency — credit, and thus, after the Protestant Reformation, in God? The US dollar bears the inscription “In God We Trust.” It’s a matter of faith. […]
On the eve of controversial elections in war-torn Myanmar (to start on December 28) and as Thailand and Cambodia seem unable to stop clashes and regional tensions escalate, it’s worth noting what it took to achieve peace in Cambodia between the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pansak Vinyaratn was one of the architects of the […]
China’s assertiveness and America’s withdrawal are creating short circuits and bringing the world into a nuclear escalation. Both China and the US would lose. They need serious steps to avert the worst. Just hours before the 2025 winter solstice, the Japanese press reported that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering building a nuclear bomb. Similar […]
Some in America might want to save Russia from itself, and rightly so. But the current deal only makes things worse. The US needs a clearer, more comprehensive plan to address the issue. There are few enough ways to state it: Russian President Vladimir Putin has not won on the battlefield. He has not conquered […]
Political fig leaves, Trump’s Chinese agenda, North Korea’s nuclear missiles, and the use of force. There are four distinct yet interconnected sets of problems fueling the ongoing Chinese rhetorical offensive against Japan over Taiwan. The island is, de facto independent but de jure part of one China, as the Republic of China (ROC), thus officially […]
