Jul 25, 2022 RICHARD HAASS Project Syndicate

Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine and set off a global scramble for fossil fuels, the battle against climate change was being lost. With national leaders and international diplomacy proving ineffective, is there any hope of saving ourselves?

NEW YORK – It is often said that no one wins a war, just that some lose less than others. Russia’s war against Ukraine promises to be no exception. One clear loser is already evident: the planet.

Continue reading As the World Burns →

foreignpolicy – This week, Uzbekistan has hosted two major summits with consequences for South Asia. The first was an international conference on Afghanistan held on Monday and Tuesday. And now, the foreign ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—a multilateral group that aims to promote stability across Eurasia—have gathered in Tashkent, the capital, for a meeting on Thursday and Friday focused on regional peace and security and global inflation.

Continue reading Why Central Asia matters for South Asia →

July 26, 2022 3:41 PM VOA

Congolese protesters scale the perimeter wall of the compound of United Nations peacekeeping force’s warehouse in Goma, in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, July 26, 2022.”/>

The United Nations said that three of its peacekeepers were killed in ongoing anti-U.N. protests that turned violent in eastern Congo on Tuesday, while several civilians were also killed in the violence.

“At the MONUSCO Butembo base today, violent attackers snatched weapons from Congolese police and fired upon our uniformed personnel,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

MONUSCO is the acronym for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Protesters in Butembo, in the eastern province of North Kivu, accuse the U.N. of having failed to protect them from an escalation of violence from armed groups.

The quadrilateral grouping was popularly dubbed as the “West Asian Quad” until last year, has now graduated to become “I2U2″. The signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE, the ongoing talks of an FTA between India and Israel, coupled with the already existing FTA between the UAE and Israel, can help this grouping triangulate the economic partnership.

Written by Guest

Updated: July 22, 2022 3:47:03 pm Financialexpress.com

Under the framework of four nation grouping I2U2, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had announced its decision to invest USD 2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India. (File image)

By Harsh Kumar Upadhayay

The signing of the Abraham Accords and the subsequent normalisation of formal diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, followed by Israel and Bahrain, have reconfigured the political alignments of West Asia. In a world which is passing through uncertain times, characterized by power rivalries, armed conflicts, the looming fear of food crisis coupled with pessimistic market sentiments in a post-pandemic era, the Abraham Accords have not only created opportunities for bilateral engagements between the countries of West Asia but also have led to the creation of a Quadrilateral cooperative framework between India, Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

Continue reading The Abraham Accords and the Genesis of I2U2 →

Daily News BriefJuly 22, 2022

Daily News BriefJuly 22, 2022

Continue reading Concil on Foreign Relations: Daily Brief July 22, 2022 →

PacNet #38 –  July 21, 2022

China’s “containment” policy against America

By Denny Roy

Denny Roy (RoyD@EastWestCenter.org) is a senior fellow at the East-West Center, Honolulu. He specializes in strategic and international security issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

Chinese officials and government media constantly decry what they call the US “containment” policy against China. They allege that Washington’s intention is to prevent China from becoming relatively stronger or more globally influential, lest Beijing impede the pursuit of the US agenda in international affairs.
Continue reading China’s “containment” policy against America →

TTCT – NHẬT ĐĂNG 18/07/2022 15:30 GMT+7

Biến cố Thủ tướng Boris Johnson từ chức một lần nữa cho thấy lề lối chính trị độc đáo ở Anh.

Ông Boris Johnson từ chức sau ba năm nắm quyền thủ tướng. Ảnh: Getty Images

Chưa bao giờ tình hình nước Anh rối ren như hiện nay. Hàng loạt cuộc biểu tình và đình công xảy ra suốt nhiều tháng liền. Trên mặt báo, những câu chuyện chính trị được khai thác triệt để. Vấn đề kinh tế vĩ mô như nợ công, vật giá leo thang hay bất bình đẳng thu nhập được đề cập song song tin tức giật gân về bê bối tiệc tùng và lạm dụng tình dục của giới chính trị gia.

Continue reading Cuộc chiến lịch sử của Đảng Bảo thủ Anh →

foreignpolicy

Days after U.S. President Joe Biden made his tour of the Middle East, the leaders of Iran, Russia, and Turkey meet in Tehran for a three-way summit.

Raisi and Putin are trying to talk Turkey out of war. With Russia engaged in Ukraine, Turkey is planning its own “special military operation”—this time against the Kurds in Syria’s north.

Continue reading Raisi hosts Erdogan, Putin in Tehran →

Al Jazeera English – 16/6/2022

The United States is principally responsible for creating the crisis in Ukraine, according to University of Chicago political science professor John Mearsheimer, and it has no current interest in reaching a negotiated settlement now.

Mearsheimer sees US sanctions against Moscow as an attempt to knock Russia out of the ranks of the great powers.

The way he sees it, the US has declared war against Russia, in effect, but the Ukrainian people are doing the fighting.

Join host Steve Clemons for this wide-ranging conversation about how both sides consider themselves locked in an existential threat, with no way out.

On the day of his funeral service, we consider the full legacy of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.

By David Leonhardt

Nytimes – July 12, 2022

Shinzo Abe could sometimes look like yet another one of the world’s modern breed of nationalist leaders, alongside Viktor Orban in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Xi Jinping in China and Donald Trump in the U.S.

Abe came from a family of Japanese nationalist politicians, including a grandfather whom the U.S. accused of war crimes during World War II. Abe himself downplayed Japan’s wartime atrocities and spoke of the importance of patriotism and “traditional values.” Above all, he pushed his country to shed its post-1945 pacifism and become more militaristic.

Continue reading Making sense of Shinzo Abe →

the guardian – Wed 27 Apr 2022 05.00 BST

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2018: the credibility of establishment figures has been demolished by technological change and political upheavals. But it’s too late to turn back the clock 

• Read text version here
• Listen here

Nigel Farage campaigning with Donald Trump in 2016. Photograph: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Written by William Davies, read by Andrew McGregor, produced by Simon Barnard, with editions from Jessica Beck. Executive producer was Nicole Jackson

Continue reading Why we stopped trusting elites – podcast →

July 08, 2022

The need for peacebuiliding in post-conflict societies grew out of the realization that true and enduring peace requires more than just signing agreements to stop the fighting. But while many of peacebuilding’s objectives seem self-evident, it is often laborious and expensive—and easily undone. Learn more when you subscribe to World Politics Review (WPR).

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the opening session of the Paris Peace Forum at the Villette Conference Hall in Paris, France, Nov. 11, 2018 (SIPA photo by Eliot Blondet via AP Images).
Continue reading How to make sure peace endures once the fighting ends →

NATO’s Strategic Concept defines the security challenges facing the Alliance and outlines the political and military tasks that NATO will carry out to address them.

NATO’s

STRATEGIC CONCEPT

The 2022 Strategic Concept was adopted at the Madrid Summit, 29-30 June 2022. Learn more about NATO’s enduring purpose and its fundamental security tasks.

DOWNLOAD THE 2022 STRATEGIC CONCEPT

The Strategic Concept’s

KEY ASPECTS

° The Alliance’s key purpose and greatest responsibility is to ensure the collective defence of Allies. Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty remains the bedrock of Allied collective defence.

° NATO’s three core tasks are deterrence and defence; crisis prevention and management; and cooperative security.

Continue reading NATO 2022 Strategic Concept →

President Biden

@POTUS United States government official

Earlier this year, the U.S. surged 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Europe to strengthen our NATO Alliance in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the changing security environment. We’ll continue to adjust our posture to ensure the defense of our Allies:

We’re working with Spain to increase U.S. Navy destroyers in Rota, establishing a permanent HQ in Poland, putting an additional rotational Brigade Combat Team in Romania, enhancing our Baltic presence, and sending two more F-35 squadrons to the UK.

NATO is ready to meet threats from all directions, across every domain: land, air, sea, cyber and space.