The Last of the Mad Pirates?

The Last of the Mad Pirates?

There is clear evidence of a world increasingly steeped in conflict and violence: The degradation of U.S.-Russian relations, territorial tensions in the South China Sea, the hostile rhetoric between North Korea and the United States, an escalation of the border conflict between China and India, growing tension between Israel and Iran, and the continuing wars in…

Homage to Syria

Homage to Syria

A strange thing happened the other week. The US president officially ordered the CIA to halt it’s war against Syria. So it wasn’t global warming then, or “Assad” or neoliberalism, it wasn’t even a civil war. The war maker in Syria was the CIA. Of course, the CIA will unofficially continue it’s war against Syria….

China Warns Tensions on Korean Peninsula at ‘Tipping Point’ After Pyongyang Missile Launch

China Warns Tensions on Korean Peninsula at ‘Tipping Point’ After Pyongyang Missile Launch

China has warned that the situation on the Korean Peninsula has reached “tipping point,” just hours after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile. Meanwhile, North Korea has accused the US of driving the region towards an “extreme level of explosion.” Speaking at a regular news briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the…

Donald Trump Crosses China’s Red Line in Afghanistan Just as Obama Crossed Russia’s in Syria and Ukraine

Donald Trump Crosses China’s Red Line in Afghanistan Just as Obama Crossed Russia’s in Syria and Ukraine

In discussions about the ‘roles’ countries play in the new multipolar world, it is often said that Russia provides the geo-political muscle while China provides the economic engine of a world where the US is no longer a singular hegemon. However, with Russia’s economy turning from resilient to growing and with China becoming ever more…

The Same Ol’ Afghan War Fallacies

The Same Ol’ Afghan War Fallacies

President Trump’s statement on Afghanistan has numerous shortcomings. It portrays as a “new strategy” what is instead a familiar kicking of a can down the road. It combines Trump’s habit of heaping blame on his predecessors with a warmed-over version of what those predecessors did in Afghanistan. It declares a determination to “win” while leaving one guessing…

US Troops in Syria Battle Anti-Assad Rebels Once Funded by the CIA

US Troops in Syria Battle Anti-Assad Rebels Once Funded by the CIA

American troops deployed in Syria have exchanged fire with rebels that were until recently supported by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. In 2013, soon after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the then-US President Barack Obama instructed the Central Intelligence Agency to provide covert support to fighters in Syria. Acting on the president’s…