Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (L) and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (L2); Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba (R2) and Defense Minister Andriy Taran (R) held a press conference after meeting in a ‘2+2’ format, Kiev, Ukraine, Dec, 18, 2020. Turkey under President Recep Erdogan has been variously accused of ‘neo-Ottomanism’, revanchism or radical Islamism. But …
India’s military diplomacy is delusional
India’s chief of the army staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane (L) met top Saudi generals, Riyadh, December 14, 2020 The recent visits by the army chief General MM Naravane to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia generated some excitement among Indian analysts that a brave new world of ‘military diplomacy’ has dawned. Bombastic coinages …
US drawdown spurs Afghan peace talks
Internally displaced children sit outside a tent at a refugee camp, Khost province, Eastern Afghanistan, November 17, 2020 Prospects for the resumption of the Afghan peace talks at Doha on January 5 look bright despite the recent spike in violence involving the Taliban, Afghan government forces and the US Air Force, which have caused large …
Red, red Kerala hails Pinarayi’s leadership
Jubilant communist party supporters savour massive election victory in Kerala’s local body elections, December 16, 2020 Malayalis attribute high importance to democratic elections in general, but the elections to the local bodies and the state assembly are of exceptional importance. Like in any part of the world where the roots of democracy and representative rule …
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Trump administration gives parting kick to Turkey
A Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system (File photo) The announcement on December 14 by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of sanctions against Turkey under the provisions of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) comes as a surprise, since President Donald Trump’s affection for Turkish leader Recep Erdogan is fairly well-known. And …
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Getting India out of the hole with China is still possible
Long haul in Ladakh on India-China border Two Indian correspondents based in Beijing drew out the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a press briefing Thursday on the recent ‘frank’ remarks by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar about India’s problematic relationship with China in an interview with the Australian think tank Lowy Institute. A …
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Assertive Germany muddles Iran issue
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attended ceremony on the arrival of first of four German-made corvettes, Haifa, Israel, Dec. 2, 2020. Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, in a speech in Moscow on December 8 dwelt on the western attempts lately to maintain the model of a unipolar world order. He said the European Union’s dalliance with …
India’s Gulf strategy is chasing Chinese phantoms
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani (R) received External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Manama, Dec 24, 2020 The Chinese statement of December 2 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the ‘Question of Palestine and the Situation in the Middle East’ should trigger introspection in New Delhi. Without doubt, this …
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Medium and small states in the time of multipolarity
Three developments this week underscore that the growing multipolarity in the world order is inexorably loosening up established alliances that provided underpinnings previously for the United States to preserve its global hegemony through the past century. Given the magnitude of the domestic crisis in the US, it is not going to be able to reverse …
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Saudi overtures to Qatar and Turkey bring results
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (R) welcomes Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 26, 2020 A rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Qatar is on cards. An announcement can be expected in a matter of days. Kuwait, which had been mediating between Riyadh and Doha hinted on November 27 that a breakthrough …
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