The escalating trade war between China and the United States is more than just a mighty tussle over imports and exports – and the elite in both Beijing and the West know it. It is, in effect, a battle of the utmost strategic importance, pitting China against a coterie of Western nations that see it …
Continue reading Korean War to Trade War, China has a Trump Card Against US: Resilience
Despite being a far-flung and underdeveloped region, the Russian Far East might turn out to be the country’s most promising one if several visionary connectivity proposals are implemented. Russia has been prioritizing the development of its far-flung and long-neglected Far Eastern region for the past three years now ever since it commenced the now-annual Eastern …
Continue reading The Russian Far East Is the Next Frontier for Multipolarity
Springtime in Korea. Peace and love have erupted all over the mountainous peninsula as the leaders of the two rival nations seek to end the nearly seven decades of hostility between them. One can’t underestimate the passionate longing felt by most Koreans on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for some form of reunification …
It can’t get more symbolic than that. The leaders of the two Koreas this week clasped hands atop the highest mountain on the peninsula, vowing to unite in peace. The ball is now in Washington’s court to help deliver that peace. This year has seen several diplomatic milestones already in the rapprochement between North and …
Continue reading Korea’s Historic Peace Move Puts Onus on Washington to End Conflict
At the end of August 2018 various sources reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping is to visit Pyongyang on September 9 for the Day of the Foundation of the Republic, and is highly likely to attend the military parade. This will be the first visit to North Korea by a Chinese leader in 13 years. …
Continue reading Strengthening Relations between China and North Korea
![China's President Xi Jinping, second left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, second right, making bliny [Russian pancakes] as they visit the Far East Street exhibition on the sidelines of the 2018 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Sept 11, 2018. Photo: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office handout / Anadolu Agency](https://astutenews.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/putin-xi-pancakes.jpg?w=900)
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were involved in a joint cooking venture. Pancakes with caviar (blin, in Russian), chased down with a shot of vodka. It just happened at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Talk about a graphic (and edible) metaphor sealing the ever-evolving ‘Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership’. For a few years now the Vladivostok …
Continue reading Greater Eurasia Coming Together in the Russian Far East
It is not possible to speak of “Donald Trump’s foreign policy” for the simple reason one can never tell whether the president or his minders are running it. Contradictions, reversals, and turns-on-a-dime have abounded since Trump took office. But this administration’s strategy abroad has assumed a discernible shape in recent weeks, whoever may be managing …
Continue reading The Trump Administration’s Spoiler Foreign Policy
Hysteria reigned supreme after the first round of US sanctions were reinstated against Iran over the past week. War scenarios abound, and yet the key aspect of the economic war unleashed by the Trump administration has been overlooked: Iran is a major piece in a much larger chessboard. The US sanctions offensive, launched after Washington’s …
Continue reading Economic War on Iran Is War on Eurasia Integration
After peaking two months ago with the Singapore Summit, hopes for a peaceful resolution of the long-running North Korea nuclear crisis have sunk into the mire of political and historical obstacles. Before 2018, outsiders knew North Korea as a failing and anachronistic political and economic system that had repeatedly cheated its seemingly long-overdue death through …
Continue reading Two Months After Trump-Kim Summit, North Korea Hasn’t Changed At All
