Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Red Sea raids push US and allies to crunch point
News, Peter Apps, Published on 15/01/2024
» When the United States and 11 allies published a joint statement last week calling for an end to Houthi attacks from Yemen on Red Sea shipping, they hoped the implicit threat of force might at least reduce the intensity of fire on foreign vessels.
America's waning Middle East clout
News, Peter Apps, Published on 19/10/2018
» When it comes to defining America's quandary on Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump's description is mercenary in the extreme. If Washington doesn't stay close to Riyadh and sell it arms, he told reporters in the Oval Office this weekend, the Saudis will turn to Moscow or Beijing instead. Given that, he seemed to be suggesting, the United States should just keep its plans for a US$110 billion arms deal and the 450,000 jobs he says it would bring.
What a nuke deal with Kim Jong-un might look like
News, Peter Apps, Published on 26/04/2018
» For much of the last few decades, powerful speakers on the South Korean border have blasted propaganda to nearby North Koreans, everything from Korean pop songs to news about the number of cars in the affluent South. On Monday, they stopped -- the latest step in a high-stakes diplomatic dance.
Why Kim Jong-un wanted a diplomatic offensive
News, Peter Apps, Published on 12/01/2018
» Last year Kim Jong-un shocked the world with the unexpected speed of his nuclear missile development, his brutal crackdown on apparent rivals and suspicions that he ordered the assassination of his half-brother with a chemical nerve agent. This year, the North Korean leader is opening January with a diplomatic offensive -- but that doesn't mean a change of strategy.
Kim knows exactly what he's doing
News, Peter Apps, Published on 10/03/2017
» With a suspected role in the assassination of his estranged half-brother and a string of increasingly aggressive missile tests, the North Korean leader appears to be testing the patience not just of Washington but also his key ally, China. It's a high-stakes game that may push the region into the worst conflict it has ever seen. Kim Jong-un's actions have a ruthless internal logic, however, and while he has a plan, there is no sign that anyone has a coherent strategy for stopping him.
Yes, 2016 was bad. But next year risks being far worse
News, Peter Apps, Published on 23/12/2016
» The killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey on Monday evening might have prompted knee-jerk comparisons to the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but it almost certainly won't spark a World War I-type conflict. The lethal truck attack that killed 12 in Berlin a few hours later, however, could ratchet up the prospect of yet another political shock in Europe.