People in Okinawa have expressed little hope that Joe Biden, elected Saturday as the next U.S. president, will review a controversial Japan-U.S. plan to relocate a key U.S. military base within the southernmost island prefecture.
As Asia comes to terms with the reality of a Joe Biden administration, relief and hopes of economic and environmental revival jostle with needling anxiety and fears of inattention.
From security to trade to climate change, a powerful U.S. reach extends to nearly every corner of the Asia-Pacific. In his four years in office, President Donald Trump shook the foundations of U.S. relations here as he courted traditional rivals and attacked allies with both frequency and relish.
Before 2015, Russia was a largely inconsequential actor in the Middle East – seemingly lacking the means or credibility to exert a meaningful influence on individual countries, let alone the region as a whole. However, everything changed when the Kremlin militarily intervened in Syria in September 2015 in an operation it claimed at the time was intended to combat terrorism. Russia’s intervention was launched in close coordination with Iran, at the express invitation of Damascus, and at a time when Bashar al-Assad’s regime was at the edge of implosion. Within a year, Russia had turned the tide of Syria’s crisis, creating conditions in which an initially subtle Western fatigue was becoming increasingly evident.
Though Empire-builders of the first order, the Ottomans were always careful not to bite more than they could chew. Erdogan, however, is leading Turkey into empire-building adventures which it does not want and cannot afford.
It has… launched a war of words with the European Union as a whole. Ostensibly, Turkey’s beef is about old maritime demarcation lines that deny it the right to tap underwater oil and gas resources. What Erdogan does not realize is that the potential market for those resources is the very European Union he is now casting as enemy. In any case, the disputed resources cannot be tapped without massive investment from the West, not to mention the technology needed.
The European Union is rushing through new legislation to get rid of end to end digital encryption. This would mean the end of privacy for users of popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal.
Reactions to Monday’s brutal terrorist attack in Vienna, which claimed four lives and injured 22, have followed a well-known pattern. Politicians around the world express their horror, pay their condolences and then, in the same breath, demand further powers for the police and secret services along with tougher action against immigrants.
The Takfiri terror group of Daesh reportedly attacks an army post in Baghdad, killing 11 people, including members of the Hashd al-Sha’abi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror force, and wounding eight others.
The Jewish community should demand every country promote and respect religious freedom, but it should never use religious freedom as an excuse to turn a blind eye to other abuses.
Much of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic prestige in Washington and success in Congress rests on two pillars: first, its embrace by Israel activists who found in Azerbaijan a strategic ally in a difficult neighborhood, and second, energy companies for whom their Azeri business nets billions of dollars.
Emmanuel Macron parle de “crise de l’islam”. C’est la moindre des choses!
La décapitation de Samuel Paty, par un terroriste islamiste, pour avoir enseigné la liberté d’expression à ses élèves lors d’un cours d’histoire avait horrifié la France. Les assassinats qui se succèdent depuis, en France ou en Europe, menacent au contraire de banaliser la terreur. L’objectif de ces crimes est limpide : perpétuer le projet impérial d’une religion qui veut liquider nos principes civilisationnels.
