A ceasefire declared between the Afghan government and Taliban on the eve of the Islamic celebration of Eid has been devastated by an attack on a meeting between Afghan Security Forces and Taliban representatives in Nangarhar province. Already over 20 have died in the terrorist attack. This represents a further attempt by a terrorist force- almost …
In India, where girls are married off at 4, where a woman is murdered every hour over dowry and where sexual violence is a form of pushback for progress, being female is an unbearable fate, an Israeli expert says. Talking to: Moran Kushnir, 40, lives in Beit Hashmonai, engages in cultural research specializing in India, …
Continue reading ‘I Thank My Good Fortune That I Wasn’t Born a Woman in India’
The US military rechristened its Pacific Command to the Indo-Pacific Command as a means of strongly signaling its growing interest in India and its eponymous ocean. The importance of this development shouldn’t be underestimated because it sets the strategic basis for the US’ 21st-century policy of “containing China”. The People’s Republic depends just as much …
Continue reading The Indo-Pacific Command Is All About “Containing” China Through India
The SCO correctly promises not to meddle In 2017 when both India and Pakistan joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the group made it clear that its official position was to treat the Kashmir crisis as an internal matter for both India and Pakistan and therefore the SCO would not directly mediate in the conflict …
Continue reading Should the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Attempt to Solve the Kashmir Crisis?
A confluence of regional and international factors makes the 18th summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) this weekend in Qingdao an event of special interest. The summit has an added meaning insofar as for the first time the two newly inducted member states India and Pakistan will be taking their place at the high …
Continue reading Shanghai Summit: Is It Really a Suitcase Without a Handle?
Ahead of the crucial Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Qingdao this coming weekend, three other recent events have offered clues on how the new world order is coming about. The Astana Economic Forum in Kazakhstan centered on how mega-partnerships are changing world trade. Participants included the president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) …
Continue reading How Singapore, Astana and St Petersburg Preview a New World Order
Pay very close attention to what India’s External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, said after meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier this week in New Delhi: “Our foreign policy is not made under pressure from other countries … We recognize UN sanctions and not country-specific sanctions. We didn’t follow US sanctions on previous …
Continue reading Why India is Ignoring US Sanctions and Sticking with Iran
Several noteworthy events, which have occurred in the past few weeks, bear witness to the continuing changes in the Indo-Pacific region’s political map. This process was long in the making, but its pace increased substantially after the election of Donald Trump as the US President, whose key campaign slogan, “America first,” is often misinterpreted as …
Continue reading The Indo-Pacific’s Changing Political Landscape
These two long-running civilizational allies might abruptly see their age-old economic relations disappear after Pompeo threatened to sanction anyone who defies the US’ unilaterally implemented punitive measures against the Islamic Republic, and the long-term geostrategic implications of this move could be as far reaching as provoking a more pronounced Chinese-Indian maritime rivalry. New Secretary of …
Continue reading Pompeo Might Have Pulled the Plug on Armenian-Iranian Trade
