After spending two intensive weeks in Beijing, I now sense more than ever a yawning gap in understanding global affairs between China and the rest of the world. I am haunted by the images on Chinese TV of Zhao Leji, China’s number three top leader, visiting Pyongyang. Zhao and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hugged […]
China’s Path Not Taken: Lost Global Leadership Opportunities
At the dawn of the 21st century, China encountered a series of decisive junctures that could have reshaped not just its destiny but that of the entire world. There was a striking series of missed opportunities and ‘what-ifs’ that could have turned the global events in a different direction. Perhaps the most significant was China’s […]
Politics of Technology Between China and the West
China’s domestic imbalances and overcapacity, due to state subsidies, have for the first time taken center stage in trade talks with the USA, further complicating the already complex bilateral ties. In Beijing last week, American Secretary of Commerce Janet Yellen argued that Chinese internal overcapacity in crucial sectors such as electric cars, solar panels, and […]
Iran Juggling Bad Choices
Israel’s own April Fool’s Day prank was to eliminate one of Iran’s top commanders in Syria, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, by striking a building near Tehran’s embassy in Damascus, almost flouting international law protecting the inviolability of diplomatic missions. This act served as a clear warning – Iran must keep its allies and proxies in check, […]
Peace for the Dovish Serpent, a prayer to the Pope
With great shame, kneeling down, with all my heart, I would like to offer another perspective to the Holy Father on the extremely delicate matter of the Ukrainian war and of Ukraine’s negotiations, or even possible “surrender,” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is in a gridlock. He started the war at the end of […]
American 80 Years Jinx?
Does America need an exorcism? There is indeed an 80-year pattern in American history that has global implications. Every eight decades, the US faces an existential internal crisis that is overcome with war. First, 1781 The Union itself started with such turmoil. The 1776-1883 Revolutionary War began as an effort to wrest the 13 colonies […]