Month: July 2021

Johnson in the parliament

Global Britain Slashes International Aid

“Decisions on aid are eroding trust and eroding relationships between the UK and developing countries.” Abby Baldoumas, Financial Times, July 15, 2021 Politics is not merely the art of the possible but the pursuit of concerted hypocrisy.  When it comes to that matter of funding good causes – foreign aid, […]

Sun Yang TO

Why Is The Top Chinese Swimmer Not At The Tokyo Olympics?

Primary players and acronyms: FINA – Fédération Internationale de Natation (International Swimming Federation). Established 1908. WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency. Established in 1999. Based in Montreal, Canada. CAS – Court of Arbitration for Sport. Highest court for adjudicating international sport. Established in 1984. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland. IDTM – International […]

Japans White Paper

Japan’s Defence White Paper 

 In mid-July, Japan’s Ministry of Defence issued a White Paper that attracted the close attention of officials and experts from neighbouring countries as well as the US. The document contains a number of features indicating dynamic changes in the country’s military and political planning, which, along with Washington’s incitement and […]

Biden and al-Kadhimi

Biden Prepares The Ground For QUAD-3

The US President Joe Biden’s foreign-policy team seems increasingly unsure of the ground beneath their feet. They can see that the edifice that their 78-year old chief is erecting stands on shaky ground. But they lack the presence of mind to object. Biden has the supreme advantage that even if […]

Philosopher Aristotle

Two Types Of Foreign Policy

Foreign policy aims at preventing conflicts with neighbors and developing their peaceful relations. However, Westerners have abandoned this objective to adopt the promotion of their collective interests to the detriment of other actors.

Afghanistan, Failure And Second Thoughts

It is a country other powers simply cannot leave alone.  Even after abandoning its Kabul post in ignominy, tail tucked between their legs, Australia is now wondering if it should return – in some form.  The Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs has been sending out a few signals, none […]

pegasus

Blinken Comes Riding The Pegasus

Pegasus, the winged divine horse from Greek mythology, symbolises a range of things. The mythological salad can include many symbolic narratives — ranging from soul’s immortality to poetic inspiration — even the Marxist eschatological myth of the withering away of the state. The Pegasus Project is a raging controversy currently […]