Showing 1 - 10 of 75
Trump's govt makes peace in Kyiv a priority
Oped, Published on 21/08/2025
» The landmark political summit between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, set in the geographical majesty of Alaska, offered the opening scenes to what could be the long-sought path to peace in Ukraine. Yet few genuine diplomatic observers presumed a political deal could be "done in a day" to bridge the yawning trust gap between the ongoing Russian aggression and beleaguered Ukraine.
Alaska talks will test the desire for peace in Ukraine
Oped, Published on 13/08/2025
» Is there now a chance to end Russia's war in Ukraine? Are both sides in this bloody stalemate finally willing to give peace a chance, despite real reservations by both Moscow and Kyiv to keep the fighting going just a little longer? More importantly, are Ukraine's backers, notably the US and European countries such as the UK, Germany and Poland, able to exert enough pressure on Vladimir Putin to make a deal?
A new page as France quits key bases in Africa
News, Published on 02/08/2025
» It's a turning of the page in Franco-African diplomatic relations. For the first time since the decolonisation of the French colonies in the 1960s, there will be no formal French military bases on the African continent.
UN turns 80 amid wave of global crises
Oped, Published on 02/07/2025
» Amid wars, global strife and massive refugee dislocations, the current global scene is overwhelmed with crises ranging from the Middle East to Ukraine and a dozen African conflicts, which rarely make the news. The contemporary world situation in many ways resembles 1945 and the end of WWII. There's a strange deja vu of a history most people do not know or would rather forget.
Israel hits hard and fast to stop Iranian threat
News, Published on 21/06/2025
» Well, it seems to have started. Israeli airstrikes on Iran's nuclear research and development sites have ushered in a new phase of the Middle East conflicts, which began when Tehran's Hamas terrorist proxies invaded Israel on Oct 7, 2023, murdering 1,200 people and taking 254 hostages.
Breaking the silence over North Korea
Oped, Published on 29/05/2025
» Speaking out to break the information barrier inside the North Korean dictatorship is in itself nothing new, and usually quickly forgotten. North Korean exiles, friendly governments, and humanitarian organisations periodically raise the oft-forsaken banner of human rights, only to be confronted by realpolitik through another round of North Korean missile launches or nuclear proliferation.
Gulf spectacle masks strategic shift in US policy
Oped, Published on 22/05/2025
» With the showmanship of a Cecil B De Mille saga, President Donald Trump's state visit to three Arab kingdoms was uniquely paired with pomp and joint business incentives that focused on transforming the narrative from conflict to commerce and cooperation. The visits were set to the spectacular backdrop of casts of thousands, Arabian stallions, and camel cohorts marking the fanfare of the president's four-day trip to the region.
Venezuela's fall deepens under Maduro's rule
Oped, Published on 15/05/2025
» What was akin to a celebration of global dictators and political rogues, Venezuela's Marxist dictator, Nicholas Maduro, visited Moscow to join Vladimir Putin in celebrating Russia's May 9 Victory Day Parade, the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany. Mr Putin's pantheon included communist China's leader Xi Jinping and Brazil's President Lula da Silva, among others.
India and Pakistan edge closer to war
Oped, Published on 08/05/2025
» Yesterday, India launched strikes on Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, two weeks after a terrorist attack. The situation follows a long-smouldering fuse which has reignited in the wake of the terrible terrorist attack killing 27 tourists in a region of disputed Kashmir, part of India's territory. Some 25 Indian civilians were apparently targeted because of their Hindu religion.
Vietnam: Fifty years since the Fall of Saigon
Oped, Published on 30/04/2025
» Fifty years ago, on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese military units surged into Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, forcibly reuniting the country, thus ending 20 years of conflict.