On November 15, a wave of protests engulfed over 100 Iranian cities as the government resorted to an extremely unpopular measure: a fuel tax hike of as much as 300%, without a semblance of a PR campaign to explain the reasons. Iranians, after all, have reflexively condemned subsidy removals for years now – especially related…
China, the world’s second-largest economy, appears to be in the process of carving out a new Middle East plan that will over time erode and chip away at American dominance in the region. Granted, Washington’s influence in the Middle East has been steadily disappearing for some time. It became clear this was the case after…
The decision to “downgrade” the NATO’s historic summit meeting in London on the 70th anniversary of the alliance to a mere “Leaders’ Meeting” implied that no joint declaration or communique would need to be issued after the event. That was smart thinking. The apprehension was that the sharp differences amongst the alliance partners on many…
At first glance the human rights and environmental issues surrounding a proposed dam seem like serious objections to their construction. In some cases they may be. In other cases – these concerns are manufactured, promoted, and cynically exploited by foreign special interests who seek to impede dam construction and likewise impede the march forward of…
By 2007 they were looking bold, overflowing with what the previous generation lacked: energy and a willingness to use it up. The truth is that they shocked people in Venezuela and made an impression in the media with their weird and hurried way of talking. An opposition used to monuments of boredom as main figures…
Since a few things became clear to me last year, I’ve consistently forecasted a significant worsening in U.S.-China relations and remained adamant that all the happy talk of trade deals and breakthroughs is just a lot of hot air. What first appeared to be a unique quirk of Donald Trump has morphed into bipartisan consensus…
