(Stalingrad of Syrian war: ancient Syrian city of Raqqa after US bombing) On December 17, Ankara was notified of President Trump’s decision on troop withdrawal from Syria. During an earlier phone conversation between him and President Recep Erdogan on Dec 14, Trump had pointedly asked and elicited a positive response from the Turkish leader as …
Trump’s Syrian pullout is a game changer
(US bases in northeast Syria) The US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday regarding the withdrawal of American military from Syria has predictably run into strong headwinds in the Washington Beltway. A formidable coalition appeared overnight – comprising the Deep State, US defence and security establishment, leading members of the Congress, major media organs –branding …
Putin warns US against misadventures
The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow on December 18 stands out as a tour d’horizon of the global strategic balance. The speech must be seen against the backdrop of the free fall in US-Russia relations, build-up of NATO infrastructure on Russia’s western borders and, …
There’s no quick fix to US-Turkish tensions
(Recep Erdogan, Donald Trump at G20, Buenos Aires) The battle of wits between the US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan is getting curioser and curioser. Trump fancies himself to be the ultimate deal-maker. But he is underestimating the wily Turkish leader who may be one up on him. In the latest …
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CPEC to traverse the Durand Line
(Khyber Pass) The 2nd Afghanistan-China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, which took place in Kabul on Saturday, largely covered familiar ground – reaffirming the commitment of the three countries to strengthen their relations, resolutely fight terrorism, support Afghan reconciliation, extend support to Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process, exhort Taliban to come to peace talks, foster security …
Russian deployment to Venezuela served the purpose
(Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers in Venezuela, Dec 10) The brief deployment of two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ strategic bombers to Venezuela last week became a sensational event. Indeed, it is a display of the growing Russian military prowess that has been restored under President Vladimir Putin’s watch. Blackjack has appeared on the Syrian skies more …
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Turkey threatens to pull the plug on US
(Who controls what in Syria, October 2018) An impression has been gaining ground lately that the Trump administration is making overtures to Ankara to revive the original US-Turkish project on regime change in Damascus. The recent visit to Ankara by James Jeffrey, the US special representative to Syria, was seen in that light. Prior to …
Robber barons kidnap Chinese princess for ransom
(Huawei HQ, Shenzhen, China) The best thing about US President Donald Trump is his transparency. It immensely helped the world community through this past two-year turbulent period to see America’s real face. Behind the veil of ‘exceptionalism’, the US statesmen right down to Barack Obama took care to camouflage American intentions and motivations. But Trump …
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The gulf within GCC is only widening
The annual summit meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on Sunday was particularly important for Saudi Arabia as a display of its regional leadership. But the short meeting of the GCC leaders behind closed doors, lasting for less than an hour, ended highlighting the huge erosion of Saudi prestige lately. The litmus …
India should close ‘Tibetan file’ and move on
(17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and the Dalai Lama) At times, good things happen due to bad reasons – such as the “indefinite postponement” of the 13th Religious Conference of the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon Tradition, scheduled to take place on 29-30 November in Dharamsala. According to media reports (here and here), quoting …
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