A far-right supporter wearing an Augusto Pinochet pin at a campaign closing rally in the presidential election in Santiago, Chile In jubilation, when news reached him from Lima that arch-conservative candidate José Antonio Kast had emerged victorious in Chile’s presidential election, Argentina’s right wing president Javier Milei posted a map of South America on X …
Syria comes in from the cold
With great prescience, late Henry Kissinger had once said, “You can’t make war in the Middle East without Egypt, and you can’t make peace without Syria.” The adage remains true even today. Syria has been an astute practitioner of diplomacy in its statecraft, which was not surprising given its origin as a modern state out …
US snubs India’s war on terror
The Indian media reports make out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reception for the seven parliamentary delegations waging the war on terror turned into a social occasion to celebrate the flashes of ‘national unity’ before the hurly-burly of politics returns as the election cycle picks up. The PMO did not issue any press release on …
Trump’s diplomacy gains traction, silences sceptics
US President Donald Trump (L) met privately with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at St. Peter’s Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, Vatican, April 26, 2025 The US President Donald Trump is a lone ranger in international arena and a self-confessed practitioner of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absolute maxim that ours is not …
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Manipur escalation draws attention to Myanmar
Arakan Army troops pose in front of the Central Navy Seal Training Center after seizing it, Rakhine, Myanmar, Sept 5, 2024 The sharp escalation by the Kuki militants in Manipur has shaken up the Indian establishment but the ensuing jingoistic outcry in sections of the media demands a muscular approach to addressing the problem of …
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Thailand aborts the colour revolution
The Hindu god Narayana (or, Vishnu) on the back of a Garuda (the mount of Vishnu), depicted on one of the pediments in Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand The curtain has come down on the abortive colour revolution in Thailand with the country’s Constitutional Court ordering the dissolution …
Russia and DPRK rustle up an alliance
In an exceptional gesture by far exceeding protocol norms, Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) was received with a hug at the airport at 3 am by Chairman of State Affairs of North Korea Kim Jong-un (L) on arrival on a ‘friendly state visit’, Pyongyang, July 19, 2024 The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brief visit to Pyongyang on …
Death of petrodollar is a Biden legacy
US President Joe Biden fist bumps Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon arrival for a high-stakes visit, July 15, 2022 The Deep State should have been alert five years ago when Candidate Joe Biden announced that he, if elected as president, was determined to make the Saudi rulers “pay the price, and make them …
China springs a BRI surprise on US
China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed an intergovernmental agreement to begin construction of a railway link connecting Xinjiang with Fergana Valley, Beijing, June 6, 2024 The report of the death of China’s Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] was an exaggeration, after all. Within days of the US President Joe Biden’s acerbic remark during an interview last …
China, Russia pip US to the Taliban hearth
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) receiving the credentials of Taliban government’s ambassador to China, Asadullah Bilal Karimi in a formal ceremony, Great Hall of the People, Beijing, Jan. 30, 2024 The diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan on January 31, 2024 by China must be bracketed with two other far-reaching regional policy moves …
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