Astute News | News and analysis, ignored by mainstream media, with focus on Pakistan, Middle East, China, Russia and Eurasia

India Dumped Iran Way Earlier Than The Reverse, But All’s Well That Ends Well

July 15, 2020 Opinion

These easily discernible strategic chain reactions were regrettably missed by many experts owing either to unfamiliarity with the guiding motivations of each related party and/or pressure to comply wi…

Has Saudi Arabia Once More Made a Catastrophic Oil Blunder?

July 15, 2020 Opinion

In March of this year Saudi Arabia launched what was clearly a catastrophic move to regain its role as the world oil superpower. What initially was a move aimed at taking markets away from Russia, aft…

As Syria Struggles Under COVID-19 Lockdown, America’s Scorched Earth Policy Ensures Food Insecurity

July 15, 2020 Opinion

In a world dominated by American exceptionalism and neo-colonialism, hunger has become a weapon of war. “The use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare is prohibited” under in…

Converting Hagia Sophia for Domestic Consumption Will Backfire on Erdogan

July 15, 2020 Opinion

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a decree changing the status of the Byzantine-era built Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque. The first Islamic service in the formerly …

Secretary of State Pompeo Says He Wants to Defend Human Dignity. But He Is Selective

July 15, 2020 Opinion

In the past year there have been protests in Hong Kong that were aimed locally and at the Beijing government. There were two deaths: one of a student who fell from a high-rise car park, and one of 70 …

Can Trump Pull a Truman?

July 15, 2020 Opinion

On July 22, 1988, after the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, the party nominee, Gov. Michael Dukakis, enjoyed a 17-point lead over Vice President George W. Bush. Five weeks later, on Labor D…

Liberal Elite? Left-Wing Establishment? People in Power Are ALWAYS Conservative, Gaslighting the World to Keep the Status Quo

July 15, 2020 Opinion

The world is being gaslighted by people in power. They want us to think that there’s a dangerous radical threat but the truth is that elites of all persuasions are conservative. That’s how they stay i…

2020 Is The Year The Unseen Becomes Seen

July 15, 2020 Opinion

2020 is the year of Julian Assange’s extradition trials, the Kafkaesque proceedings by which the US government is attempting to imprison the WikiLeaks founder for the rest of his life as punishment fo…