Trump-Kim Summit Put on Ice
To the surprise of no one, the June 12 Trump-Kim summit has been cancelled. But this won’t be the end of Trump’s diplomatic gambit.
The Iranian Oil Bourse
Threats to American economic dominance and the USD continue to grow as oil producing regions talk about, and act on, abandoning USD denominated oil sales and currency pegs.
Myanmar’s Divided Peace Process: Hope amid Escalating Violence?
With ethnic conflicts flaring up and down the country, reinvigorating the nation-level peace process will be challenging – but not impossible.
Beirut Port Explosion: Domestic Investigations
First in a two-part series examining various efforts to uncover the truth behind the Beirut port explosion.
Russia and the Central Asian Drug Trade
A drug trafficking campaign is being conducted against Russia on a broad scale affecting all spheres of its political, social and economic life. Kyrgyzstan plays an important role in this campaign. There are ten main routes of heroin traffic from Afghanistan (occupied by the US forces) with six of them crossing the Kyrgyz city of Osh, an important hub of Afghan drug traffic.
Backgrounder: The NATO Pivot toward Asia
China has slowly come to inhabit a significant position in NATO security thinking. However, given the different economic stakes involved, it remains unlikely that European threat assessments will be aligning with American ones anytime soon.
Global Forecast (10-25-2021)
A major lapse of the ‘ASEAN way,’ COVID-19 spreads in China , and Evergrande lives to fight another day.
Election Talk Heats Up in Malaysia
Muhyiddin Yassin is clinging to power amid a COVID-19 state of emergency. A new election would test the unity of the ruling Perikatan Nasional bloc and opposition parties led by Anwar Ibrahim.
‘QUAD of the West’ Forms against Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean
Turkish actions in the Eastern Mediterranean have mirrored China’s actions in the South China Sea. And they’ve begun to produce the same kind of geopolitical response.
QE3 and the Ups and Downs of Gold
Following the announcement of the US Federal Bank's intention to begin a third round of quantitative easing in mid-September, the global price of gold skyrocketed.