A Chinese campaign to forcibly assimilate ethnic Uyghurs in its north-western province of Xinjiang in a bid to erase nationalist sentiment, counter militancy, and create an ‘Uyghur Islam with Chinese characteristics’ ignores lessons learnt not only from recent Chinese history but also the experience of others. The campaign, reminiscent of failed attempts to undermine Uyghur…
Relevant in relation to the US-led ongoing wars, this article was originally published on June 29, 2015. The most expensive social science program in history–the US Army’s Human Terrain System (HTS)–has quietly come to an end (2015). During its eight years of existence, the controversial program cost tax payers more than $725 million. The Pentagon…
The 17-year old Afghan war is entering a new phase, as the Pentagon co-opts as allies the two Gulf Arab states that used to be the Taliban regime’s friend, guide and philosopher in the 1990s – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It’s a double whammy for Pentagon – sheikhs usually carry moneybags, and…
The official end of hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea has the chance of ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity for what has up until this point been one of the tensest and most impoverished parts of Africa. The fast-moving Ethiopian-Eritrean rapprochement culminated in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visiting President Isaias Afwerki and…
The war in Syria has lasted more than seven years, bringing with it a devastation and bloodshed which has thrown a prosperous and stable Middle Eastern nation into chaos and uncertainty. In the West we are used to reading a history of such conflicts written by the victor. The imperialist narrative is the dominant one….
China is employing a foreign policy strategy in Africa that is both an inherent part of and intertwined with Beijing’s foreign policy doctrine. Its main aim is to turn the African continent into China’s strategic asset, whose purpose would be to grow PRC’s political and economic might and enable China to position itself as a…
