Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) congratulated the head of Russia’s Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov on his 80th birthday when he received the Hero of Labour title, Moscow, June 26, 2024 We recently witnessed the pathetic sight that even after 7 decades of independence and experience as a democracy where hundreds of millions of people genuinely feel empowered, …
Russia’s post-war dilemmas in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed a meeting of senior diplomats of the foreign ministry, Moscow, June 14, 2024 In regard of the war in Ukraine, Russia’s main challenge going forward is to find the equilibrium between strategic overestimation and underestimation. “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate …
Israel grapples with its “Suez moment”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with newly drafted soldiers, Israel, April 16, 2024 The United States’ diplomatic initiative to issue a joint statement condemning Iran on its “Attack on the State of Israel” has ended in fiasco, as there were hardly any takers for it from outside of the western bloc of nations. This is a …
Gaza War ends. Will Biden get a Nobel?
A destroyed building in Iran’s embassy compound in Tehran hit by an Israeli airstrike on April 1, 2024 Israel’s Damascus strike on April 1 will go down in the corpus of literature on war and diplomacy as an act of high-intensity deception. Iran wouldn’t have expected a cowardly attack using stealth fighters on its diplomatic …
China ignores US entreaties of mediation
Wang Yi, Member of Politbureau of Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and director of Central Foreign Affairs Office (3rd from left) met with Jake Sullivan, assistant to US President for National Security (3rd from Right), Bangkok, Jan. 26-27, 2024 There is an old proverb that when misfortunes come, they come in battalions. Coming on top …
Regional opinion urges Iran-Pakistan amity
Unsurprisingly, the eruption of tensions in the Pakistan-Iran diplomatic ties on Tuesday following Tehran’s air strike across the border against Baluchistan is subsiding, which testifies to the political maturity of the two countries. Neither side wants the tensions and both are astute observers of the regional and international environment. Their chosen path of reconciliation becomes …
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US’ war on terror against Houthis is smoke and mirrors
A November 20, 2023 file photo of a Houthi military helicopter flying over Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea The United States has hosted the first meeting of the new working group on terrorism in the Quad format in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 19-21. The QUAD working group on terrorism was constituted in …
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US, Israel to open second front in Lebanon
A joint meeting of the US and five Arab foreign ministers took place in Amman on November 4, 2023 to discuss the Palestine question The announcement late Sunday night by the US Central Command [CENTCOM] headquartered in Doha about the arrival of a Ohio-class American nuclear submarine in its “area of responsibility” presages a significant …
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Hezbollah takes to the high ground
Israeli forces have met with fierce resistance in Gaza, including militants armed with anti-tank missiles The Palestine question, which Benjamin Netanyahu had thought he had all but resolved by incrementally assimilating “all of Israel” as a Zionist entity, has roared back to the centre stage of West Asian politics and international society, thanks to Hamas, …
Neocon regime change in Gaza will complicate ‘two-state solution’
President of Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak (L) at Cairo, October 20, 2023 The world-wide condemnation of Israel’s horrific violation of international humanitarian law is not deterring its military operations in Gaza. In remarks on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the calls for ceasefire, saying these “are calls for …
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