There are deep stirrings beneath the surface of the Hamas vicious slaughter against Israel on October 7. A political victory by Hamas and its sponsors, perhaps an extremist wing in Iran, might frighten almost every Muslim government in the world. Over the past decades, and especially in recent years since the war against ISIS, many […]
China’s present troubles with the US might be rooted in a misperception of what should have been done in the past. What did China do when America struggled in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004-2005? Rather than helping it in these difficulties, Beijing kept aloof politically and slowed down the economic and political reforms it had […]
The perception abroad, and not only in Western countries, is that often China is a threat. Yet, many have a hard time pinpointing why it is so and, thus, what kind of threat China is. China has no vaunted goal of Hitlerian global conquest, nor does it have the old Soviet ambitions for universal communist […]
In theory, it is a peninsula, but actually, for all practical purposes, it is an island. South Korea is separated from the rest of the Asian continent by its intractable half-brother to the North, making any land contact with its neighbors impossible. The gap between the reality (being an island) and the theoretical aspiration (being […]
USA-China Mirrors What will work better between USA and China, short-term economic cycles or long-term systemic assets or baggage? The picture may look not so clear if seen from Beijing. Beijing has just launched a whole array of measures aimed at compensating for lackluster growth at the beginning of the year, and its main thrust […]
Last week’s deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia brokered by China is a significant success for Beijing, and it could as well change the shape of the Middle East. Still, it’s not clear in which direction it could spin. It may bring benefits to everybody, or it might also increase conflict in the region. The […]
The United States, after World War II, rebuilt Europe, Japan and South Korea, creating new vibrant states that were not American “colonies”. They had a dialectic relationship with America that was not devoid of friction. A similar attempt to rebuild the Middle East and Central Asia starting in 2004 after the War on Terror failed […]
