Showing 1 - 10 of 31
The Houthi threat to global shipping
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 28/03/2025
» Amidst the unpredictable arc of crisis shadowing the Middle East, the systemic and sustained merchant shipping attacks in the Red Sea persist. The culprits are a shadowy but lethal Iranian proxy force, the Houthis, who use their control of mountainous parts of the Yemeni coast to launch missile, drone and speedboat attacks on vital shipping lanes connecting the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Aden.
US friends and foes buckle up for 'America First'
News, Peter Apps, Published on 01/02/2025
» Less than 24 hours after US President Donald Trump was sworn into office on Monday, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio met foreign minister counterparts from America's closest allies in the Indo-Pacific -- the so-called "Quad" with Australia, India and Japan, as aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson finished its first big 2025 training exercise in waters near the Philippines.
Donald Trump's foreign policy inheritance
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 22/01/2025
» A series of widening wars, growing humanitarian crises and simmering foreign conflicts are among the list of foreign policy/security woes confronting President Donald Trump. From day one of his administration, the president must assess and prioritise US policy interests in key regions on both geo-strategic and political fronts.
Chronicling the crumbling of the House of Assad
Oped, Shlomo Ben-Ami, Published on 14/12/2024
» The swift collapse, after 54 years, of Syria's al-Assad dynasty has just transformed the Middle East's geopolitical landscape. The lightning offensive by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia took all of Syria's neighbours -- and everyone else -- by surprise. The news that President Bashar al-Assad had fled to Russia confirms the one binding truth about wars: unintended consequences can extend far beyond the theatre of battle.
What now after Israel's invasion of Lebanon?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/10/2024
» Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has launched his invasion of Lebanon. As usual in the opening stages of Israeli incursions into that fragile country, the signs and portents look good for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
Countries that are in step must trade together
Oped, Todd G. Buchholz, Published on 14/09/2024
» Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agree on little except a disdain for free trade. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, Mr Trump has threatened a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports, while Ms Harris, whose policy positions remain murky, has indicated that she would follow in President Joe Biden's footsteps with "targeted and strategic tariffs". American politicians' free-trade enthusiasm of the 1980s and 1990s has vanished, and this scares other countries, which know that the United States -- despite its wobbles and foibles -- remains the world's most attractive trading partner.
US readiness for war -- watch its Navy missile policy
News, Peter Apps, Published on 19/04/2024
» In October 2022 a US destroyer and supply ship pulled alongside each other in San Diego harbour to attempt something the Pentagon had never tried before -- reloading missiles on a US warship at sea rather than tied up alongside a pier.
The reason why China won't fight the Houthis
Oped, Yun Sun, Published on 23/02/2024
» Chinese policy in the Middle East is shaped by two factors: China's threat perceptions and its strategic calculus regarding its great-power competition with the United States. And when it comes to dealing with the US, China's approach comes down to three "nos": no cooperation, no support and no confrontation. This credo underlies China's decision not to push back against the Iran-backed Houthis as they carry out drone and missile attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
Diesel prices primed to increase sharply in 2024
News, John Kemp, Published on 08/02/2024
» Global stocks of diesel and other middle distillates are below normal and prices could start to rise quickly if the industrial economies of North America and Western Europe emerge from their lingering recession in 2024.
Mideast missile madness gets even worse
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/01/2024
» Not all that long ago, attacking another country's territory was still seen as a big deal. It was, in legal terms, an "act of war", liable to have unpleasant and potentially unlimited consequences, including full-scale war. Very powerful countries occasionally made small, one-off attacks on very weak ones to "discipline" them, but even that was relatively rare.