Geopolitics

Jan 23, 2012 at 17:59 | John Daly

On 22 January 70 year-old Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, having ruled since 1978, left the Yemeni capital Sanaa onboard a private jet bound for who knows where, but apparently…

Jan 21, 2012 at 10:51 | Juan Cole

As Iran proceeds ahead with its nuclear program, its tensions with the United States continue to heighten over concerns that it is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons capability. Israelis view…

Jan 18, 2012 at 18:18 | Post Carbon

From competition among hunter-gatherers for wild game to imperialist wars over precious minerals, resource wars have been fought throughout history; today, however, the competition appears set to enter a new—and…

Jan 17, 2012 at 20:38 | John Daly

Ever since the end of World War Two, the U.S. has come to regard Saudi Arabia as almost its exclusive oil producing enclave. In February 1945, after the Yalta…

Jan 16, 2012 at 22:05 | John Daly

Thinking of opening a textile mill in Kampuchea? A shrimp farm in Vietnam? Anything at all in Laos or Myanmar? Then think fast and act, as China is increasingly dominating…

Jan 16, 2012 at 21:38 | John Daly

The recent dramatic pronouncement that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez underwent cancer treatment in Cuba reverberated far beyond Venezuela, depressing his allies and elating his enemies. While the leader of his…

Jan 16, 2012 at 17:37 | John Daly

Consider – every single drop of fuel used by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces, largely composed of 90,000 U.S. military troops, must be brought into Afghanistan from outside the…

Jan 16, 2012 at 07:49 | John Daly

U.S. President Barack Obama recently signed a law imposing more sanctions on Iran's exports to punish Iran over its civilian nuclear uranium enrichment program, which Tehran insists is completely peaceful…

Jan 14, 2012 at 07:30 | John Daly

There’s bad news and then there’s South Sudan, the world’s newest state. Less than six months after peacefully seceding from Sudan in the wake of an internally supervised plebiscite, South…

Jan 11, 2012 at 17:06 | Juan Cole

The announcement of the Iranian government that it will activate its Fordow nuclear enrichment site has predictably drawn forth a new round of war propaganda from the Secretary of…

Jan 11, 2012 at 07:15 | John Daly

At the best of times, the U.S. government is regarded as somewhat out of touch with what’s happening in the American “heartland,” much less the world at large, so much…

Jan 03, 2012 at 21:23 | Strategic Studies

Rarely in the past six decades has global context counted for as much in strategic forecasting — trend analysis — as it does at the dawn of 2012. Reliance on…

Jan 03, 2012 at 21:05 | John Daly

With the news that the U.S. is holding secret talks with the Taliban in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, many Afghans are looking towards a future when military operations…

Jan 03, 2012 at 19:13

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Dec 14, 2011 at 17:59 | John Daly

China’s diplomatic efforts have traditionally been modes in the extreme, supporting unilateral engagement to solve thorny issues. No more. In a first, Beijing is inserting itself into resolving…

Dec 12, 2011 at 08:07 | John Daly

If China is not actually preparing for conflict in the South China Sea over disputed archipelagos and islets and their rich offshore resources, from fish to hydrocarbons, then consider the…

Dec 08, 2011 at 18:42 | John Daly

Every now and again, one reads an editorial that stops the reader in his tracks. On 8 December, with the headline "War Inevitable To Tackle Indian Water Aggression," Pakistan’s Urdu-language…

Dec 08, 2011 at 17:08 | Deirdre Tynan

The Northern Distribution Network, the key re-supply route for US and NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan, is set to experience a spike in traffic due to the closure of the…

Dec 06, 2011 at 18:19 | John Daly

So much for peace in the Middle East. On 5 December Prince bin Turki al Faisal, speaking at the “The Gulf and the Globe” conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh …

Dec 06, 2011 at 18:17 | John Daly

According to Iraqi Council of Representatives Oil and Energy Committee member Furat al-Sharei, the 10 oil fields that spread across the Iraqi-Kuwaiti frontier are still waiting to have a line…