Japan: The politics of economic crisis
Japan is experiencing the biggest economic downturn of its post-war history. As economic gloom pervades through Japanese society, it appears that the period of unbroken one-party rule in Japanese politics is almost over.
Mutiny in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s two-month old democratic government may fall to a military coup as a result of a border guard mutiny this past week that killed an estimated 148 people.
Peace, justice, and the ICC in Sudan
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) unprecedented issuance of an arrest warrant for the standing executive leader of a state may in time represent a landmark precedent in international justice or the catalyst that propelled Sudan into another spiral of conflict.
Partitioning Darfur
Western powers, through the International Criminal Court (ICC), have succeeded in preventing a nascent peace initiative between Darfurian rebels and the central Sudanese government – a prelude to the eventual partition of the country.
China’s global resource shopping spree
Plummeting global equity markets have left cash-rich Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOE) poised and ready for a foreign resource shopping spree.
Thai colour revolution
Unlike typical CIA organized colour revolutions, the waves of counter-protests in Thailand appear to have genuinely split the loyalties of the Thai citizenry in two, threatening a collapse of Thailand’s political system.
Pakistan’s nuclear wild card
The intensifying conflict in Pakistan's Swat valley has once again called the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons into question. If present instability spills out of Swat and becomes widespread, an American military operation to secure Pakistan’s nuclear assets may be forthcoming, albeit very unlikely to succeed.
The Eritrean connection
Recent reports detailing arms shipment from Eritrea into Somalia are a stark indication that Islamic extremist elements within Somalia may have found a powerful patron.
Rundown of the Xi-Obama Summit
In the wake of the Xi-Obama summit, both American and Chinese media outlets have stressed how ‘constructive’ the meetings were. But given the existence of certain structural impediments in the US-China relationship, was the summit doomed before it even started?
Abbas Makes His Case at the UN
After yet another decade of a peace process that is obviously stalled if not terminally ineffective, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to take Palestinian aspirations of statehood to the United Nations.